January Blog: Holocaust Memorial Day
Holocaust Memorial Day, 27th January
IGCSE students who are studying Depth Study B on Germany or Depth Study E on the Second World War will cover the Holocaust as part of this topic; however, Holocaust Memorial Day provides the opportunity to also discuss this key event with all students.
The theme for 2026 is Bridging Generations:
A reminder that the responsibility of remembrance doesn't end with the survivors - it lives on through their children, their grandchildren and through all of us. This theme encourages us all to engage actively with the past - to listen, to learn and to carry those lessons forward. By doing so, we build a bridge between memory and action, between history and hope for the future.
See below for some useful resources for discussing Holocaust Memorial Day with students:
Holocaust Memorial Day (BBC Teach)
An assembly framework and video to help mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
hmd.org.uk
Holocaust Memorial Day Trust resources.
Anniversaries for 2026
2026 is another year of key anniversaries including the Two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the Signing of the US Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776; the Seventy-fifth anniversary of the Treaty of San Francisco, September 8, 1951 and the fiftieth Anniversary of Mao Zedong's Death, September 9, 1976.
It is also the twenty-fifth anniversary of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks, September 11, 2001 and the ensuing war in Afghanistan.
Not all of these topics are covered by IGCSE History students, but they provide an excellent opportunity for discussing events outside of the curriculum, for classroom displays, for assemblies.
As this Council of Foreign Relations 2026 Anniversary page comments, "Anniversaries mark the passage of time, recall our triumphs, and honor our losses". And for teachers, they always provide a good opportunity to revisit key historical events and highlight their significance.
We will of course also discuss these anniversaries during the course of the year on this blog page.
Heading into 2026!
Over the next few months we will continue to update existing pages with new activities and content.
And for those of you heading towards the June exams, we will soon be uploading some sample Paper 2 papers to help you with the prescribed topics.