Holocaust Memorial Day 2005
Candlelit Memorial Ceremony
A thoughtful, reflective, and sombre ceremony was held in the Winter Garden in Sheffield on Thursday 27th January 2005, attended by hundreds of people.
The candlelit ceremony included personal recollections of the Kindertransport by Dorothy Fleming and Steve Mendelsohn; a moving recorded interview with a Holocaust survivor from Auschwitz; works of poetry, a haunting song and pieces of music – including Lacrymosa (by Sylvie Bodorova: from the Terezin Ghetto Requiem) which was sung by Nigel Cliffe (of the Royal Opera House, London). The evening ended with some readings from Isaiah and a prayer (in Hebrew and English) by Rabbi Golomb of the Sheffield Jewish Congregation.
The proceedings were lead by Ony Bright of Radio Sheffield, in the presence of the Mayor Cllr Michael Pye, Jan Wilson - the Council Leader, and Bob Kerslake – Chief Executive of the Council.
A vigil was also held in the Peace Gardens before this ceremony - organised by ‘Sheffield Unite Against Fascism’
From the amount of work in setting up this occasion, and the number of contributions included, and the audio-visual displays, Sheffield City Council clearly sees this as a more significant event than when it was first held a few years ago.
However, as a participant I would have to say that the Council should remember than longer does not necessarily mean better. Many individual contributions were quite long – and I felt for many of the elder people who stood throughout the hour and a half ceremony. Additionally, even in this year, the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the number of Jewish contributions and the absence of contributions from other faiths was not a welcome precedent. After all, Holocaust Memorial Day is a National (and European) commemoration day – not a Jewish one (we have our own Jewish commemoration on Yom HaShoah – which is held each year on 27th Nisan - and this year is on 06 May 2005).
Nevertheless, like the subject of this commemoration, this was a very significant event – clearly demonstrating that Holocaust Memorial Day ceremonies are coming of age - and this ceremony was not one that will be easily forgotten.
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Click on this link to hear the personal recollections of Dorothy and Otto Fleming - recorded on Radio Sheffield
Details of the Terezin Ghetto Requiem are available at: Musicabona
Click on this link for more general information about Holocaust Memorial Day
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