What is it, why this logo and what can we learn from it?

It all seems a bit muddled this year on what the theme is, just because big (non disability) organisations seem to be taking different themes - I'll update on that in another blog.

Because this is 'supposed to be' specifically a history month, I thought I'd tell you why the logo above was designed with a triangle......

It's from part of the holocaust that many people don't know or don't really talk about:

A black triangle was worn on the left side of their clothes by many disabled people. They were forced to wear it by the Nazis during the ‘T4′ Eugenics Programme, a programme that was intended to eliminate them.

The UKDHM Logo has taken this symbol, and in reclaiming disability history it has been inverted.

The killing of disabled began In 1939. All children under the age of three who had illnesses or a disability, such as Down’s syndrome, or cerebral palsy were targeted under the T4 programme. Medical experts were required to give their approval for the ‘mercy-killing’, of each child.

When war broke out in September 1939, Adults with disabilities, chronic illnesses, mental health problems were included in the programme. Six killing centres were built to make the process faster.
Previously, lethal injection or starvation were the the chosen ways of killing, but by now this was  thought to be too slow to cope with huge numbers of adults. This led to the first gassings at the killing centre in Brandenberg; and thousands of disabled people were killed in gas chambers disguised as shower rooms.

It's believed that around to 250,000 disabled people were killed under this Nazi regime.

What we can learn from this is to remember it - don't let this part of the Holocaust story be forgotten.
We need to learn from it so it never happens again.
We need to realise that many disabled people are scared because they hear some of the same narratives today - in the UK. The Nazis called disabled people 'useless eaters'. In other words, they were using up resources needed by non disabled people. This narrative was seen most clearly during the pandemic and seen in the attitudes of people even today. (Have a look at my previous blog 'I'd Rather Be Dead')

There's much to learn!