Steve Aiken: We must never forget the Nazi horrors unleashed at Belsen and across Europe

Seventy-five years ago yesterday British and Allied forces liberated the Bergen Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany as they pursued the Nazi armies eastward to their final defeat.
By Steve Aiken
Published 16th Apr 2020, 00:19 BST
Updated 16th Apr 2020, 00:39 BST
A British soldier 75 years ago in April 1945 guarding SS members as they collect the dead at Belsen concentration camp following its liberationA British soldier 75 years ago in April 1945 guarding SS members as they collect the dead at Belsen concentration camp following its liberation
A British soldier 75 years ago in April 1945 guarding SS members as they collect the dead at Belsen concentration camp following its liberation

More than 60,000 prisoners were liberated, most of them seriously ill, and it is believed that 50,000 others perished there, including Anne Frank and her sister Margot.

Amongst the first servicemen to enter Belsen in April 1945, weeks after the death of Anne Frank, was a young 24-year-old RAF corporal from Killead in County Antrim.

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His name was James Molyneaux and in later life the then Lord Molyneaux spoke movingly of how the sights he saw then had been the work of the devil, a hell on earth.

James Molyneaux, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, in 1981. Decades earlier he helped liberate Belsen, saying it was "hell on earth"James Molyneaux, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, in 1981. Decades earlier he helped liberate Belsen, saying it was "hell on earth"
James Molyneaux, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, in 1981. Decades earlier he helped liberate Belsen, saying it was "hell on earth"

What he saw in those dark days greatly influenced his thinking in later years when he was a public representative and later Ulster Unionist Party Leader.

We must never forget the horrors that were unleashed by Nazi Germany and the man-made brutality that was visited upon Europe.

One of our greatest achievements as a nation was the role we played in standing up to and defeating fascism.

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We should all pause to commemorate the liberation of Belsen, to remember the millions of innocent victims of Hitler and the fanaticism and madness that he inflicted, and vow to challenge those in the modern era who seem to have forgotten the lessons of the past.

Steve Aiken MLA, Ulster Unionist Party leader, ex Royal Navy

Related topics:Steve AikenGermanyEurope