OUR HUMAN RIGHTS WORK
In addition to Europe’s Jewish population, many other groups and minorities were brutally discriminated against and murdered in the Holocaust – notably, people with a disability, queer communities, the Roma and Sinti populations and Communist sympathisers.
Our Human Rights work and advocacy recognises and honours the importance of standing up for a diversity of human rights - including gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, disability, age and religious freedom. |
Our human rights activity and advocacy includes:
Partnering with relevant organisations on human rights topics and events;
such as the New Zealand Jewish Council on antisemitism and human rights and the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO and the New Zealand Human Rights Commission for UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorative events remembering all victims of the Nazi Third Reich and reaffirming commitment to educating against genocide.
Partnering with relevant organisations on human rights topics and events;
such as the New Zealand Jewish Council on antisemitism and human rights and the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO and the New Zealand Human Rights Commission for UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorative events remembering all victims of the Nazi Third Reich and reaffirming commitment to educating against genocide.
Writing submissions on human rights topics.
Making public/media statements on human rights issues directly relevant to HCNZ’s purpose and focus – both regionally and nationally.
Holocaust Centre of NZ (HCNZ) Calls on PM Ardern to Press Australia on Manus Refugees
We apply human rights lessons to our broader educational programmes.
We host national and international speakers and seminars on human rights issues.
"Our nation will be a better place for all our diverse communities when racist slurs and jokes are unacceptable, when refugee communities are welcomed, and when cultural and religious differences are accepted and embraced. Our national response to Covid-19 has demanded that we all step up and do the right thing by each other. By harnessing that sense of social responsibility, we have an opportunity to create a more compassionate, inclusive society, where everyone, no matter where they come from, is treated with respect and humanity"
HCNZ Patron, Governor-General, The Rt Hon Dame Patsy Reddy (2016-2021) speaking at UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 2021
Writing submissions on human rights topics.
- HCNZ worked on submitting to the Human Rights Commission on its work on racism and the Classifications Office on classifying the Oslo Manifesto, in 2021.
- Making submissions to relevant Parliamentary Select Committees on specific pieces of legislation.
Making public/media statements on human rights issues directly relevant to HCNZ’s purpose and focus – both regionally and nationally.
Holocaust Centre of NZ (HCNZ) Calls on PM Ardern to Press Australia on Manus Refugees
We apply human rights lessons to our broader educational programmes.
We host national and international speakers and seminars on human rights issues.
"Our nation will be a better place for all our diverse communities when racist slurs and jokes are unacceptable, when refugee communities are welcomed, and when cultural and religious differences are accepted and embraced. Our national response to Covid-19 has demanded that we all step up and do the right thing by each other. By harnessing that sense of social responsibility, we have an opportunity to create a more compassionate, inclusive society, where everyone, no matter where they come from, is treated with respect and humanity"
HCNZ Patron, Governor-General, The Rt Hon Dame Patsy Reddy (2016-2021) speaking at UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 2021
Here is a short clip from our panel discussion, 'Disability Rights: Historic and contemporary views'.
(March 13, 2019, at the National Library of New Zealand, Wellington)
(March 13, 2019, at the National Library of New Zealand, Wellington)
"The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility.The wrongs we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated”.
With these words Justice Robert H. Jackson, Chief of Counsel for the United States marked the beginning of the Nuremberg trials, Nov 1945 - Oct 1946