A prayer for Holocaust Memorial Day which takes place on the 27 January.
Holy God,
On this Holocaust Memorial Day we remember the six million Jewish persons whom the Nazis murdered. Some names known to us but all known to you. We remember, too, those who survived and bore the physical and emotional consequences. We pray for our neighbours today, our Jewish communities who still feel the effects of the Holocaust and the fear that antisemitism continues to bring.
We remember, also, the thousands of other victims of the Nazi regime. Those who were disabled, gay, Roma, Jehovah’s Witnesses, political opponents, and those who were brave enough to stand up and say that what was happening was wrong. As we think this year of the need to ‘bridge the generations’, forgive us when we have allowed ourselves to hate others. Forgive us when we have chosen not to stand up against hatred, and forgive us when we choose to forget because it’s more comfortable than remembering the horrors of what has happened.
Yesterday, today and forever you are God. Your love endures forever. We hold before you all victims of genocide and hatred and ask that you bring peace and justice. May we never forget and may we be equipped to make a better world.
Amen.