Holocaust Victims Remembered in England

Holocaust Memorial Day was marked Monday morning at a service at the Holocaust Memorial Garden in Valentines Park, Ilford, UK, which included readings from Rabbi Geoffrey Hyman, of Ilford United Synagogue, and Rabbi Aryeh Sufrin of the Chabad Lubavitch Centre in Ilford.

Monday marked the 69th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

The choirs of Ilford United Synagogue and South West Essex and Settlement Synagogue, both in Ilford, joined forces to sing at the service, before wreaths were placed at the Holocaust Memorial Stone.

Rabbi Sufrin said: “I was pleased to welcome so many different faces at the memorial this morning.

“I was especially pleased to see so many school children and young people – who are obviously going to be the leaders of the future.

“It was a very suitable memorial and most important in this day and age.

“The holocaust is distant in terms of its history but its lessons are still very important in ensuring we are still making a difference and not repeating past mistakes.”