Members of Hong Kong society gathered to observe the United Nations’ International Day of Commemoration, which falls on Jan 27, in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
This year’s event, organized by the city’s Jewish community on Jan 20, marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland and the end of World War II in 1945.
They heard retired surgeon and professor Mark Spigelman share how he survived the Holocaust after his mother disguised him as a girl when he was a child and was told never to pee in public until “when the war was over”.
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The 84-year-old Spigelman, born in Poland and flying in from Sydney, Australia, recalled being spared after reminding a German officer of his young daughter. It also helped that his mother had learned to speak German, he said.
Spigelman noted Jan 27 “is a very important date” as it was that day 80 years ago that he saw the Soviet army reach Auschwitz. The date has been chosen to commemorate the memory of the millions of Jewish victims murdered during the Holocaust.
In his remarks on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Deputy Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Nick Au Yeung said it was a privilege to stand in solidarity with those who attended the important event.
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He said it “not only commemorates the victims and survivors of the Holocaust” but also “underscores our collective agreement to a world rooted in peace, inclusiveness and harmony”.
The Hong Kong official said the government has always been supportive of initiatives that promote equality and inclusiveness.
“On our part, we have put in place measures for building a more diverse and inclusive society in which intolerance, hatred, and discrimination of all forms would have no place to grow,” said Au Yeung.
“As we gather here to commemorate the Holocaust victims, let us reaffirm our shared commitment to building, not only loving and altruistic societies but also an inclusive and compassionate world. “A world where peace, mutual understanding, and respect are not just ideals but lived realities for all people,” he added.
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An audio documentary originally broadcast on April 19, 1945, of British journalist Richard Dimbleby — the BBC’s first war correspondent — touring the Belsen concentration camp was also played at the event.
The event also hosted the exhibition, Auschwitz — A Place on Earth, featuring photos taken at the end of May or beginning of June 1944 by two Nazi SS soldiers. The photos in The Auschwitz Album are the only known visual documentation of the arrival of the transport of Jews taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The event was organized by the Hong Kong Holocaust and Tolerance Center, and other supporters including the Hong Kong Jewish Community Centre, the Carmel School Hong Kong, and the Consulate General of Israel in Hong Kong.
