The South West Dorset Multi Cultural Network will be hosting their 10th Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) Event at the Corn Exchange, High West Street, Dorchester on Friday 30th January 2015 between 12.30pm – 1.30pm. This free event will be attended by local councillors, network members, local schools and local organisations.
The Police and Crime Commissioner, Martyn Underhill, who will be speaking at the event, picked out this quotation by Edmund Burke – “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” and wrote “This saying haunts me whenever I think of the Holocaust, and how good decent people stood by and allowed absolute horror. My father was in the 8th Army, and served throughout the war.…including the invasion of Germany. His tank was the first tank to enter Belsen on the Luneberg Heath. He only talked about the horror to me once, and he cried as he relayed the fact that by feeding the poor souls, he actually killed some by over feeding them…..it took days before the soldiers realised they needed a structured approach to feeding the starving. So let us never forget this blindness, this evil.”
All members of the local community are invited to join the commemoration.
The event includes art work and readings from local schools, and some short talks and music from network members.
The theme for HMD 2015 “Keep the Memory Alive” is appropriate as it marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau andprovides an opportunity to listen to and consider some of the experiences of those who experienced the Holocaust and subsequent Genocides. Hopefully this will help us all to better understand the past and act as an inspiration for our current behaviour.
The event will feature local resident Harry Grenville speaking movingly of his experience of coming to Britain as part of the Kindertransport and about how the town in Germany that he had to leave, without his parents, as a young boy, has created a powerful memorial to him and the family and friends that he left behind.
Students from Thomas Hardye School will reflect on the impact of the genocide in Rwanda and in Bosnia – as 2015 will also be the 20th anniversary of the Genocide in Srebrenica.
Thomas Hardye School is currently one of only 20 beacon schools in the UK having been chosenlast year by the University of London’s Institute of Education (IOE) to develop sensitive and innovative ways to help young people explore the traumatic history of genocide.
Sunninghill School will also be contributing to the event with a reading and bringing art work which has always in the past provided a profound reflection from the young people on the impact of the Holocaust.
The event will conclude with a lighting of candles, and a minute’s silence. Free refreshments will be served from noon.
Anne Marie Vincent, Chair of the network, said “We are looking forward to our local community coming together to remember victims of the Holocaust and those whose lives have been affected by exclusion and hatred in subsequent genocides”.
Emma Scott, Community Development Officer at West Dorset District Council says, “At this event we ask people to learn lessons from the past to create a safer, better future. The message of the theme – to keep the memory alive, reminds us that we have the opportunity to learn from survivors whilst they are still with us and think about how we will carry their lessons into the future”.
The Network would also like to extend their thanks to Dorchester Town Council who have kindly sponsored this event.
The Corn Exchange will open from midday to allow time to view exhibits before the event commences at 12.30.
The South West Dorset Multicultural Network will be putting exhibitions up about the Holocaust in Dorchester library, Bridport library and Weymouth library from Monday 26th
January to Monday the 2nd February.
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‘If something happens, I would want there to be somebody who would remember
that someone named D. Berger had once lived. This will make things easier for me
in the difficult moments.’
David Berger, in his last letter before being murdered by Nazis in Vilnius, 1941
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Other events in Dorset taking place to commemorate the Holocaust include:
Event in Weymouth and Portland
Weymouth and Portland Borough Council are holding a short Holocaust Memorial Ceremony hosted by the Mayor, Cllr Kate Wheller at Radipole Park Gardens on Tuesday 27thJanuary at 10,30am. Everyone is welcome.
Details available from [email protected]
Events in Bournemouth and Poole
Bournemouth and Poole Holocaust Memorial Day
On Sunday 25th January 2015 at 2.00pm, The Bournemouth and Poole Holocaust Memorial Day Committee are holding their Annual HMD event at the Lighthouse Poole.
Bournemouth and Poole plaque unveiling
In addition the Committee are holding a service where they will be unveiling a plaque in Bournemouth Gardens near the Cenotaph on Tuesday the 27th January from 3.30pm-4.45pm. All are welcome to attend. A specially designed candle will also be ignited as part of a nationwide event where 70 candles will be lit simultaneously across the UK to mark the 70thanniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
For details about B&P events contact [email protected]
