Events mark Holocaust Memorial Day in Shropshire
Events to mark Holocaust Memorial Day are being held by Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council today.
Holocaust Memorial Day provides an opportunity for everyone to learn lessons from the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and subsequent genocides and apply them to the present day to create a safer, better future.
The first event will take the form of an exhibition in the VIP Suite at Telford & Wrekin Council’s Civic Offices, which will be opened at 10am by Dr Eve Clevenger – who lost relatives in the Holocaust.
Shropshire Council will be hosting an event in the Council Chamber, Shirehall. The theme of this year’s event is ‘Speak up, speak out’, asking you to consider what you see and hear around you, and to use your voices to speak up against hatred and discrimination.
The primary aims of the event is to remember those who were persecuted and murdered and commemorate the lives lost, think about our own actions and how we help others to speak up and speak out, and to ensure that Shropshire continues to address incidents of hate crime by raising awareness of the multi-agency protocol to tackle hate crime in Shropshire.
The event will start at 5.15pm with a candlelit procession will leave from Shrewsbury College walking to Shirehall for the main event at 6:00pm. The main event will include a Klezmer Band, Malenka Choir, drama and mime, readings and refreshments. In addition to this there will be a number of displays on the first floor of Shirehall during the day from organisations such as Amnesty, United Nations, gypsy and traveller team, hate crime initiative, Bridges Educational Trust, British Red Cross, and Crimestopper providing information on their work and why it is important to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
On Monday, well-known holocaust survivor Ben Helfgott is giving a talk at New College in Telford.
Ben’s story is a remarkable one – covering the Nazi invasion of his native Poland, life as a Jew in the first ghetto in Europe, the murder of both his parents and how he eventually found his way to England.
At the age of 15 in 1948, he arrived in the UK and describes himself as a “walking skeleton” but just 10 years later he represented the UK at the Olympic Games in Melbourne as a weight lifter. He then won Commonwealth bronze in the 1958 games in Cardiff and capped that with Olympic bronze in Rome games in 1960.
His talk at New College on Monday starts at 4.30pm. The event is free but people must book in advance as capacity is limited to 380 and tickets are being snapped up very quickly. Anyone who wants to attend should contact Jan Williams on 01952 382131 or jan.williams@telford.gov.uk
Telford & Wrekin Councillor leader Sahota said: “This is a very historic and important day in the calendar and I hope people will take time out to reflect or find out more about what happened.
“We are proud and honoured to welcome both Dr Eve Clevenger and Ben Helfgott to the borough and I would like to thank them in advance for sharing their inspirational stories with us.”
Councillor Gwilym Butler, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for equalities, said:
“Shropshire Council will fulfil its role as a community leader by commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day, demonstrating our commitment to eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation, promoting good relations between different people and groups and tackling prejudice by promoting respect and tolerance.
"This year’s event will allow us to pause to remember the past and think about our actions in the future. We are pleased to be supporting this event and looking forward to a wonderful evening of music, drama and readings. I would like to thank Councillor Martin Bennett who will be opening the event. I wish everybody an enjoyable evening of reflection and purpose.”
