Students and staff at King’s Ely recently came together at Ely Cathedral to mark National Holocaust Memorial Day.
The theme of the school’s Service of Remembrance was ‘Torn from Home’ and was held to commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz Birkenau; to mark the 25th anniversary of the Genocide in Rwanda and 40 years since the ending of the Genocide in Cambodia.
A short poem written by Karen Gershon, entitled ‘I was not there’ was read out at the service. Karen was rescued as a child on the Kindertransport. Students were invited to light candles in memory of those who lost their lives.
Students have also taken part in the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust Postcard Project, where they have learnt about the history and explored the life stories of people affected by the Holocaust and the Genocide in Cambodia, and then written personal postcards to them.
Holocaust Memorial Day is a national commemoration day in the UK dedicated to the remembrance of those who suffered in the Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution, and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. It was first held in January 2001 and has been on the same date every year since, with the date the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp by the Soviet Union in 1945.