Jews and Muslims
During the events that led to the Holocaust, very few Muslims lived in Europe with the exception of France and the Balkans including Albania.
So the actions of those Muslims that came to the aid of Jews is remarkable and should be highlighted. Such as the Grand Mufti of Paris, Si Kaddour Benhabrit, or Noor Inyat Khan who was a British agent living in Paris. Or the Iranian diplomat Abdol Hossein Sardari, plus the many Albanian Muslims.
We aim to bring to the attention of Jews that there were Muslims who were prepared to help Jews and to increase awareness amongst Muslims the outright racism of the Nazis and their rule by terror and the use of scapegoats. Most of the Muslims in Britain did not have parents or grandparents who lived here during the 1940s. The time of war and deprivation in Britain. The words such as Holocaust, Auschwitz and its infamous slogan “Work Makes You Free” where people were immediately murdered or worked to death, maybe very difficult to take in.
The Exhibition with its sub title: “How Christians and Muslims Saved Jews from the Nazis” has been created and displayed at a time of serious conflicts in the Middle East. So It is important to highlight that in the UK, Sheffield City Council, like cities elsewhere, has made every effort to reduce community tensions in local communities. It is a policy aimed at “community cohesion”
It is also good to report the signing in February 2025, in the UK, of an Accord or agreement recently between many Jewish and Muslim leaders called the “Drumlanrig Accord.”
It aims to establish unity between Jewish and Muslim communities in Britain to help tackle both antisemitism and Islamophobia, as well as poverty and isolation.
It proposes setting up a number of joint councils to encourage faith leaders and the public to work together across religious boundaries, as well as to “safeguard areas of concern” around “religious freedoms”.