The chairman of Epping Forest District Council has warned against holocaust denial and anti-Semitic conspiracies spreading on social media.
To mark Holocaust Memorial Day today (January 27) the council civic offices have been illuminated with purple lights to show its support with this year’s theme ‘be the light in the darkness’.
The Holocaust was the Second World War genocide of Jews, homosexuals, gypsies and the disabled between 1941 and 1945 across Nazi-occupied Europe.
Around six million Jewish people were killed in pogroms, mass shootings, concentration and work camps, and gas chambers.
Helen Kane, chairman of the council, said: “In our society today abuse and conspiracy theories are easily spread on social media platforms. This can lead to increasing levels of denial, division and misinformation.
“Developments in technology, a turbulent political climate, and world events beyond our control can leave us all feeling helpless and insignificant.
“But through these unprecedented times, in which we live, we have seen the very best of human endeavour, though the great many acts of kindness and the wonderful major developments in the scientific world. All of which give us hope for the future.”
A spokesperson for the council added: “Holocaust Memorial Day provides a chance to reflect on the depths humanity can sink to, but also the ways individuals and communities resisted that darkness to be the light before, during and after genocide.”
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