Holocaust Memorial Day: Unknown heroes bring light to bleak and tragic times

The Holocaust is also a reminder that in the aftermath of crises, it is the heroes that we eventually come to remember. Heroes like Sir Nicholas Winton, “Britain’s Schindler”, who single-handedly saved 669 children from the Nazi regime by evacuating young refugees to England. Sir Nicholas’s work went unnoticed by the world for almost 50 years, until 1988 when he was invited to the BBC programme That’s Life where he was reunited with several of the children he had saved.  

It is perhaps some small comfort to think of all the unknown heroes of the pandemic, and what stories will emerge in years to come of who have silently gone above and beyond for others in a time of need. We are also surrounded by everyday heroes — the doctors, nurses, cleaners, bus drivers and shopkeepers who put their lives at risk for their community.  

When we look back at this period of intense darkness in years to come, it is these people who we will remember; those who helped us to slowly but surely turn on the light.