Yesterday evening, my husband and I watched the holocaust memorial service on the BBC. The Prince and Princess of Wales were the, as was the prime minister, and a few other celebrities.

The were representatives of all the different religions, come together to remember the mass murder of six million Jews during the second world war, and the victims of all genocides “recognised by the British government” (that little snippet I felt rather stole something from the memorial).

It was a beautiful and moving service, with interview with survivors of the concentration camps telling harrowing stories of loss and grief, caused through the agency of hate and the passivity of indifference.

The theme to “Schindler’s List” played on the cello was a heartbreaking lament to murder of millions.

Several times in the service the phrase “never again” was said. Yet it is still happening now. There is war in Europe and there is war in the middle east. I am angry with those that begin these modern horrors, and angry at those who perpetuate then.

There are people with money able to enact with impunity the signs of the hated nazi regime. The same hatred of difference stirs across the world and casts a long shadow over us all.

I write now as a form of candle to remember the genocides of the past and to put my stake in the ground against persecution in the future.