This morning I attended the Holocaust Memorial Day service at St Anne’s Synagogue. It’s always a privilege to be invited and each year carries a different theme, and this year we reflected on “Bridging Generations.”
Several local schools took part, offering powerful talks and presentations on what they have learned about the horrors of the Holocaust, how they will carry forward the stories of survivors, and how they will pass those lessons on to future generations.
We also heard a profoundly moving violin performance. The violin itself has an extraordinary history, it featured on an episode of The Repair Shop, after being brought in by the relative of a Holocaust survivor. The instrument had survived alongside its brave owner during their time in a concentration camp. Now beautifully restored, it is once again being played in their memory. Hearing it today was a tribute that touched everyone present.
From today’s service, the message which stood out to me was to always be an up-stander, never a bystander. In honour of those who suffered and those who survived, we must continue to always challenge hatred, prejudice, and discrimination wherever we see it.