Holocaust Memorial Day 2025

Together! 2012 CIC Artistic Director Dr Ju Gosling talks to singer-songwriter Mx Dennis Queen about the mass murder of a quarter of a million Disabled people by the Nazis, and why this is not better known about today. They also discuss the continuing impact on attitudes towards Disabled people and to assisted suicide. The podcast finishes with two songs by Mx Dennis Queen. The podcast marks Holocaust Memorial Day 2025, which commemorates 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp. Trigger warning: this podcast contains multiple references to murder and suicide.


Image of mobile phone playing Holocaust Memorial Day footage displayed on a home-made holder on a window sill at night.

Together! 2012 CIC’s contribution to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust’s ’80 Candles for 80 Years’ exhibition, commemorating 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz.

This is our ‘candle and holder’ for the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust’s 2025 ’80 Candles for 80 Years’ exhibition‘, commemorating 80 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The candle holder was inspired by the approximately 250,000 Disabled people who were murdered by the Nazis, most of whom remain un-named and unknown today. To represent them, we have used an image of some of the prosthetic limbs that were discovered when Auschwitz was liberated. These prosthetics would have been custom-made for their wearers, and would have involved multiple fittings for measurements and plaster casting. The prosthetics were fully functioning body parts, underlining the fact that many of the Disabled people murdered by the Nazis had previously been leading full and active lives.

This is a virtual candleholder, designed to hold a smartphone displaying the following video: https://youtu.be/Uv7mN7i6hqw The candleholder is approximately 14cm high with a diameter of 9cm and has been constructed from recycled packaging. It is based on the bottom part of a plastic bottle of sweets, with two notches cut into it to support a smartphone, and the back tapered to provide further support. The lid of the jar has been glued inside at the bottom, so that a weight can be placed on it as necessary to stabilise the candle holder. Card from a range of non-prescription domestic pharmaceuticals manufactured by Bayer has been glued to the plastic to strengthen it. Underneath the candleholder is written: “First, they came for Disabled people.”

What do we want to say to people viewing the candle holder? First, they came for Disabled people. Disabled people’s lives continue to be regarded as less valuable today, and this impacts negatively on every aspect of our existence. Everyone should learn about the mass murders of Disabled people by the Nazis. Everyone should question where their own beliefs and prejudices about the lesser value of Disabled people’s lives originate from. Everyone should also learn about the history of companies and organisations operating today that played key roles in the Holocaust. This includes Bayer, whose chemicals were used in the murder of millions of people, but whose products are still in every home today.

Click here to view our resource The Fragility of Freedom for Disabled People, created for Holocaust Memorial Day 2024