Holocaust Memorial Day is a hugely poignant occasion and it is held on 27th January each year.
The Holocaust was the systematic attempt to murder all Jewish people living in Europe from 1941 to 1945.
This most infamous event resulted in the murder of 6 million Jewish men, women and children in concentration and extermination camps, ghettos and mass shootings and it is without question, an incredibly dark chapter in human history.
To mark Memorial Day 2022, I presented a members business motion in the Scottish Parliament to reflect on the horrors of the Holocaust and the importance of ensuring that it’s lessons are passed onto each generation so that everyone is installed with the ethos of tolerance and respect for all irrespective of background.
The theme for this year’s Holocaust Memorial Commemorations was “One Day”.
It is a theme that can be interpreted in different and for some, intensely personal ways, but it is ultimately about the fundamental importance of aiming to ensure that One Day, genocide will become a thing of the past.
Sadly, the Holocaust did not mark the end of genocide and other atrocities of this nature have occurred over the following decades in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
The theme for 2022 highlights that the Memorial Day serves not just as a commemoration of those lost in the Holocaust itself but those who were tragically killed in the multiple genocides in subsequent decades.
Importantly, it must remind us of an enduring and permanent duty not just to pay lip service during occasions such as Holocaust Memorial Day but to confront, challenge, educate and defeat the forces harbouring and perpetuating genocidal schemes and all that underpin and facilitate them.
Following the Scottish Parliament marking Holocaust Memorial Day, in early February I was delighted to again host the Vision Schools Scotland Awards at Holyrood for the fourth ceremony running.
Vision Schools Scotland is a groundbreaking educational initiative, led by the University of the West of Scotland, that accredits schools who have demonstrated excellence in the teaching of the Holocaust.
There are now a total of 23 Vision Schools including Calderwood Lodge and Mearns Castle High in Eastwood and the programme’s overall network extends to 50 schools.
It is a privilege for me to be associated with Vision Schools Scotland and I have no doubt that it will continue to go from strength to strength.
In the past number of years, there has been a disappointing reduction in postal services across Eastwood.
Two branches have been lost in Newton Mearns and the Eaglesham post office closed back in 2017.
There was some positive news for Clarkston residents in December 2020 when the previous post office branch was re-instated at Sheddens.
Now, there is finally some encouraging news on Eaglesham.
The Post Office have confirmed with me that a new mobile service covering various locations in the West of Scotland including Eaglesham will be established, albeit initially on a temporary basis.
It is welcome that at least, some provision will be restored to the local area but it is vital that efforts to find a permanent solution continue.