NCCE CHAIR SPEAKS AT 2023 HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY

The Chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education, (NCCE), Ms. Kathleen Addy has been speaking at this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day in Accra. The day is set aside to remember and highlight the humanity of the Holocaust victims and survivors, who had their homes and sense of belonging ripped from them by the perpetrators of the Holocaust. This year’s observation was under the theme, ‘Home and Belonging’.

The Chairman of NCCE, Ms. Kathleen Addy, addressing the Diplomatic Community, Government officials, students and pupils called on all to ensure that human rights are protected, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). She said in the solemn moments of reflection, we must celebrate the present, and look forward to an even brighter tomorrow. ‘The past is not meant to be forgotten, lest we repeat some regrettable errors and relive our dreaded history. Rather, we should be reminded and use it as a guide to building a better future, Ms. Addy said.

Touching on the theme, 'Home and Belonging', Ms. Addy said, the lessons learnt from the dark past must empower and inspire us to create warm, hospitable nations so that every human being will indeed feel at home and enjoy a sense of belonging wherever they go. She stressed that, ‘it is the hope of all, that the reflections of the past will give us a new sense of responsibility towards one another, and may we be encouraged to love, cherish, honour, and protect human life and dignity above all, regardless of race or creed’.

The 2023 theme explores how victims adjusted their ideas of “home” and “belonging” as they faced the violent, antisemitic onslaught during the Holocaust, and what “home” and “belonging” meant to survivors in the immediate post-war years. Other key speakers at the event stressed on the need for more tolerance, co-existence and peace over hatred, hate speech, anti-Semitism and genocide in the world.

The Ambassador of Israel to Ghana, H. E. Shlomit Sufa also expressed that “in our commemoration today, I would like to reflect on the issue of hatred in the world. I have been asking myself over and over again, how did humanity come to a point where genocide was made so legitimate that such a massive effort was made to wipe out a race in the most inhumane way possible?” H.E. Sufa, therefore, reminded participants of their “responsibility to stand up against inhumane crimes, hate speech, antisemitism, Holocaust distortion, denial, and prejudice.”

This year’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day also focused on the screening of the Film “Where is Anne Frank.” The event saw members of the Diplomatic Community, Government officials, students and pupils in attendance.