Holocaust Memorial Day returns on Friday, 27 January 2023. This is to commemorate the systematic killing of millions of Jewish people by Nazi Germany and the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. Between 1941 and 1945, six million Jewish men, women and children were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators in Europe, around two - thirds of Europe’s Jewish population . This is known as the Holocaust (or Shoah). Holocaust Memorial Day also marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz- Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.
Interestingly, BBC Four has been showing a programme entitled ‘US and the Holocaust’ with footage showing the atrocities carried out by the Nazis against Jewish people in Europe and the failure of the United State of America and the Allies to respond positively to the outrage and come to the aid of the Jewish people. In addition, Steven Spielberg's film Schindler’s List was shown on television Sunday evening, bringing back awful and horrific memories of the Holocaust.
The Holocaust ended 75 years ago, but its lessons remain crucial. “Never again” is the message conveyed by Israel and the Jewish community. Having said that, antisemitic (anti-Jewish and anti-Israel) behaviour is ‘alive’ and on the increase. We see it in the media including the BBC, on the internet, actively at Universities and in the National Union of Students and latterly, in the leadership and rank and file of the Labour party. We also see it in sport, especially in football where for example Tottenham Hotspur supporters use the chants ‘Yid’, ‘Yid army’ and ‘being a Yid’, provoking antisemitic responses from other supporter groups. In the sport of cricket, there is also evidence of antisemitic comments and behaviour.
Sadly, criticisms of the State of Israel have morphed into antisemitic behaviour in all the above areas.
The Jewish people have always shown allegiance to the society in which they live and have settled , and to the monarch of the day. In this respect , Jewish people have for centuries served in the UK armed forces and this military tradition stretches back at least 250 years. The Duke of Wellington estimated that he had 15 Jewish officers at Waterloo and there were Jewish sailors at Trafalgar. Thousands of Jews served in both the Crimean and Boer Wars. In World War I from just 300,000 people, 50,000 Jewish people served in his Majesty’s armed forces. From 1917-1921, five battalions of the Royal Fusiliers were known as the Jewish Legion. Towards the end of the Legion’s existence, it was reduced to a single battalion named First Judeans. The unit attracted hundreds of volunteers from America, the Middle East and even Argentina. There were around 260 Jewish officers in the RAF when it was created in 1918, meaning the Jewish presence in the RAF has existed for as long as the RAF has. Even now, Jewish people are continuing to join the RAF, including one of the Rabbis in the Brighton Jewish community.
In World War II, around 55,000 Jews served in HMAF. From 1944-1946 there was also the Jewish brigade, an all-Jewish unit raised from Jews in the British mandate of Palestine, commanded by British and Canadian Jewish officers. They fought primarily in Italy. Three Victoria Crosses were awarded and 1,410 other medals and citations with a further 1,123 mentioned in despatches.
In 1921, a number of Jewish veterans from World War 1 laid a wreath at the newly erected Cenotaph at Whitehall in honour of all their comrades who died in that conflict.
In recognition of this monumental contribution of the Jewish community to the HMAF in the First World War, in 1928 King George V allowed Jewish veterans to march at Whitehall the Sunday after Remembrance Sunday. This annual tradition continues today with serving personnel, veterans and civilians parading at the Cenotaph to celebrate the British Jewish military tradition. Jewish men and women attend from Glasgow, Newcastle, Hull Cardiff, Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Birmingham, London and many more towns and cities for this token of homage. The AJEX parade and ceremony is the most important Jewish external event of the year. I, myself, am proud to march wearing my late parents’ medals. My father served in the Royal Navy in Ceylon and my mother in the ATS (Stars in Battledress), both in World War II.
In 1928, British Jewish ex-servicemen and women resolved to form a Jewish ex-servicemen organisation, which was first called the Jewish Legion and later in the 1930s the Association of Ex-Servicemen and Women, AJEX as we know it today. I have recently had the privilege and honour of being appointed to the advisory board of AJEX, which continues to organise the annual remembrance parade and ceremony every year at Whitehall.
Furthermore , the Jewish chaplaincy was, until very recently, the only non- Christian chaplaincy in HMAF. It was started in 1892.
The Jewish community is proud that five Jewish servicemen have been awarded the Victoria Cross, whilst many others have been awarded medals or gallantry, or being mentioned in despatches.
To summarise, Holocaust Memorial Day is a stark reminder of the depths to which society can lower itself. We must continue to fight and battle strenuously against racist and racism, wherever it exists. In the UK, the Jewish community has always shown its commitment and loyalty to the country and the Crown, for which is should be lauded.
(Jonathan Metliss – Chairman of Action Against Discrimination, member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Chairman of the Board of Deputies Committee on Antisemitism in Sport, Chairman of the Jewish Weekly, member of the advisory board of the Association of Jewish Ex-servicemen and Chairman of Axiom DWFM Solicitors)
