Holocaust Memorial Opportunity To End Discrimination

A major worker's union is calling for an end to discrimination and prejudice on Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday.

The day of remembrance is held on January 27 - on the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, where 1.6 million men, women and children were killed in the Holocaust.

According to the Trade Union Congress, the day aims to remind people of the crimes, racism and loss of life during the Holocaust in World War II and prevent it ever being forgotten or repeated.

The union said the day should be used to remember more recent genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur, and has been held annually in the UK since 2001.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "Unions have always stood up to the kind of discrimination, prejudice and hatred that led to the Nazi Holocaust.

"LGBT people were among the millions of victims of Hitler's brutal regime, and today LGBT communities are a vital part of the resistance to modern versions of this hatred.'

"LGBT representatives from the TUC will be taking part in the national commemoration event in London.

Alongside the six million Jewish victims of Nazi persecution, hundreds of thousands of others were targeted by Hitler's regime - including union members, lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people (LGBT), disabled people, and people attacked simply for their race.

(DW)