THE BROMSGROVE community came together for the district’s annual Holocaust Memorial Day service which year had the theme ‘How Can Life Go On?’
Residents of all ages, people with no faith, representatives from different faiths, including Christians, Jews, Hindus and Muslims, joined at the Council House at Parkside.
Students from all the high schools, middle schools and Bromsgrove School also participated in the memorial event.
It began with an introduction before a reflection reading by Rabbi Dr Margaret Jacobi which questioned how justice could be found after genocide.
There were also accounts from survivors of the Holocaust and other atrocities, including Srebrenica and Rwanda.
A prayer was said by Bal Chaudhari and there was a Prayer of Penitence by Rev Carey Saleh.
The memory of all those who had died because of human-inflicted violence was honoured with a silence, perfectly punctuated by The Last Post and Reveille played on the bugle.
Those gathered then made a statement of commitment to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive with the annual Holocaust Memorial Day and to ensure future generations understood the cause of it and reflected upon its consequences to prevent the same mistakes being made in the future.
The evils of prejudice, discrimination and racism were condemned and everyone vowed to do what they could to bring about a free, tolerant and democratic society.
The service then concluded with prayers from Rev Ray Khan, a blessing from Rev Carey Saleh and the lighting of candles.
Rev Khan told The Standard afterwards: “It was lovely that all the pupils there participated in proceedings.
“For me that was the most moving part of the ceremony – the young people remembering something that had happened before they were even born.”
He added a lot of people stayed behind afterwards and engaged in conversation.
“There were people of all faiths and no faith, all ages and all political persuasions talking to each other – Bromsgrove really came together.
“I spoke to the staff and the students at the schools afterwards and everyone said it was a very moving experience.
“It is important to remember that although we are reflecting on situations that have happened – some as early as the 1940s – the roots of genocide are still around us in our political language today.”
The Bromsgrove Holocaust Memorial was held the day before the official Holocaust Memorial Day because this year it fell on the Jewish Sabbath day.
