Letter: Never let us forget the Holocaust

Sir: The importance you attach in your leading article ("The lessons of Auschwitz", 27 January) to educating the young of the horrors of the Holocaust is apposite. The anniversary of liberation of the camp at Auschwitz serves to remind us all of the consequences of the "Final Solution".

I was born in 1970 and so can only imagine the suffering that took place there. But if history is never to repeat itself, the full facts of the Second World War must be instilled into each new generation. The young must be told of the dangers of excessive nationalism in politics and the ease with which a popular, rabble-rousing politician swept away democracy. The most important lesson to learn from the war is that the appeasement of dictators with territorial ambitions will not pacify them. The brutality of the Nazi regime did not become evident to the Allies until the war was over.

This anniversary can be used to remind us of its consequences and heighten our determination that it should not be forgotten and that something on this scale should not be allowed to happen again. After all, has the world really changed that much in 50 years?

Yours faithfully, DARREN HOWELL Norwich, Norfolk 27 January