Honour our Holocaust survivors, don't be a bystander - Dame Susan Devoy

70 years ago in the early hours of the morning and in the middle of a bitter snowstorm, Auschwitz Concentration Camp was liberated. Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, this afternoon some incredible New Zealanders – our own Holocaust survivors - will honour us with their presence at Makara Cemetery. Together we will remember millions of innocent men, women and children who were murdered by a ruthless, racist regime.

So today of all days, as we stand alongside our Holocaust survivors we must ask ourselves, have we learnt anything at all? Are we honouring their legacy?

I’d like to share a story with you, a pre-school boy walking home from kindy with his mother is confronted by angry adults who abuse him because he is a Jew.

They rip the yarmulke off his small head and scream hate at him and his mum.

Did this attack take place 75 years ago? Was that little boy from Berlin or Warsaw?

I’m ashamed to say that no, this didn’t happen long ago and neither did it happen far away.

This small Kiwi boy lives in Mt Eden and he faced race hate only a few months ago, on the streets of our biggest city.

Sadly Muslim Kiwis have reported similar attacks on their children and mums on the way home from school.

When our kids are scared to wear a yarmulke or a head scarf because some adult may abuse or attack them: what kind of New Zealand are we living in?

Some may argue we shouldn't be too worried because we don't have the same rate of attacks as other countries. But this argument is flawed.

Because as our Holocaust survivors will tell you, hate starts small.

Hate is born when a small child and his mother are abused as they walk home.

Hate grows when their neighbours and friends stand by and do nothing.

Hate triumphs when intolerance and prejudice becomes engrained across an entire society, from the pages of newspapers to the halls of Government, from schoolrooms to boardrooms.

If there is any lesson everyday New Zealanders can learn from the Holocaust - it’s don’t be a bystander.

Don’t stand by and do nothing when you see people spreading hate and prejudice in your community, or your neighbourhood. I can't help but wonder whether anyone supported that small boy and his mum. Did someone let them know they weren't alone? Did someone challenge the cowards who abused them?

Those who spread hate and prejudice in our communities need to know their hatred is not welcome: and it’s everyday New Zealanders who need to give them that message.

Everyday New Zealanders need to challenge prejudice and hate wherever, whenever we see it. We have an excellent international human rights record but it is not worth the paper it is written on if New Zealanders are under attack because they’re Jewish, Muslim, Chinese or Maori.

Human rights aren't just found in a declaration at the United Nations.

Our human rights must be found here where we live and work, on the streets of Mt Eden, outside a synagogue in Central Wellington, or a mosque in Kilbirnie. Human Rights begin at home. They are rights we are all responsible for, ours to hold and ours to lose.

I’d like to see more young Kiwis attend Holocaust Remembrance Day. With all that is going on in the world right now our youngest New Zealanders need to hear first hand from some of our oldest New Zealanders, people who can tell them exactly what race hate, prejudice and genocide is all about.

The lesson we learn from the Holocaust is that hate starts small, on the streets we live in, at the places we shop and gather. It grows when good people stand by and do nothing. It’s up to everyday New Zealanders to stand up for peace and human rights right here at home. This is how we honour the past and guarantee a future we can be proud to leave our children and grandchildren.

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