Milton Keynes Rose to host virtual Holocaust Memorial Day event

Holocaust Memorial Day 2021 is Wednesday January 27, a day to remember the millions of people who were murdered in the Holocaust under Nazi persecution.

The day also provides an opportunity to commemorate those who lost their lives in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Dafur.

On this day we would normally be gathered at The Milton Keynes Rose to honour survivors of these regimes and challenge ourselves to use the lessons of their experiences to inform our lives today.

The need to stay at home to stop the spread of the coronavirus means this year's event will only be available to the public online.

Talks from Paul Salver, formerly a teacher at Sir Herbert Leon Academy ,the Mayor of Milton Keynes Councillor Andrew Geary and a poem for the occasion by Mark Niel, will be posted on the website www.miltonkeynesrose.org.uk to mark the occasion.

The theme for this year's memorial is 'Be the Light in the Darkness'. That quote holds a special meaning to Holocaust survivor, Gena Turgel, who has regularly visited Milton keynes and spoke at Sir Herbert Leon Academy about her experiences in Nazi concentration camps.

In her memoirs, Gena says: “We will continue to do our bit for as long as we can, secure in the knowledge that others will continue to light a candle long after us.”

Gena’s sentiments are replicated in a new publication about the Holocaust from Living Archive MK: Echoes and Reflections: Remembering the Holocaust in Milton Keynes, a collection of memories and insights from contributors who have worked or lived in MK during the last 50 years.

The editor of the collection Marion Hill DL says: “For me, these contributors represent the candles depicted on the cover of the book, as our 'light in the

darkness';. It is a powerful statement to the modern world that not only must we not forget; we must do more - to prevent any genocide.”

Mayor of Milton Keynes Councillor Andrew Geary said, “The Holocaust is a deeply uncomfortable but very significant part of our history. But these uncomfortable and deeply

moving parts of history must never, ever be erased from our minds or memories. For it is as we remember the past that we also shape the future.”