How your workplace can mark Holocaust Memorial Day

Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) is an international day on 27 January which asks us to remember the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of people murdered under Nazi persecution of other groups, in addition to more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

It takes place on 27 January to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.

On HMD 2024, we reflect on how freedom is fragile and vulnerable to abuse. 

When Hitler came to power in 1933, trade unionists were among the first groups to be targeted for persecution by the Nazi regime. 

Their values were at odds with the Nazi vision of an authoritarian state, and in May 1933 all German trade unions were shut down. Their leaders were arrested and sent to concentration camps, including Gustav Schiefer, who was imprisoned at Dachau and testified against the Nazis after the war.

Today, trade union members continue to speak out and combat hatred, prejudice and discrimination. 

Holocaust Memorial Day offers trade unionists a great opportunity to continue to do their part to create a safer, better future by learning the lessons of the past.

This get involved guide by the Holocaust Memorial Trust gives you examples and practical suggestions for what you can do as a workplace or branch to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, and how you can learn from genocide to work towards a better future.

Some of the guide's ideas are below:

• You may wish to reflect on the way in which the dismantling of organised labour helped pave the way for an authoritarian regime to carry out industrial-scale murder.
• For many trade union members, HMD is an opportunity to highlight and celebrate their ongoing antifascist work and other campaigns against hatred and discrimination. 
• Invite a speaker to talk about Holocaust or anti-fascist issues at a branch meeting. 
• It is not always possible to invite a survivor to speak at your HMD activity, but you can still include their experiences by reading a life story, playing a podcast or showing a film of a survivor speaking. 
• Create a display in your place of work, perhaps combining the posters and images on the Holocaust Memorial Trust website with your own material.
• Order handout booklets for people to find out more about the Holocaust, genocide and the importance of HMD.

Reps and members can read more on the importance of challenging and rooting out antisemitism on PCS Knowledge (login required).