Pupils take part in touching ceremony for Holocaust Memorial Day

Pupils a will be taking part in a touching ceremony to commemorate the millions of lives lost to genocide.

The ceremony, which will include a performance by a choir singing the Jewish song Eli Eli, will take place in Broadgate on Holocaust Memorial Day which is held every year on 27 January. The school’s group of 10 faith ambassador pupils will present a bouquet of white roses in memory of all the people who have been murdered in atrocities across the world.

Holocaust survivor Ivan Shaw (nee Buchwald) will also be helping pupils to develop a more personal connection to the Holocaust by visiting the school to talk about his own experiences during World War II. Mr Shaw was just five-years-old when the Nazis began deporting Jews from his home town of Novi Sad in the former Yugoslavia. His parents were just two of the many Jews in the area who were told to go to an assembly point where they were transported to Nazi concentration camps. In their absence, Ivan was cared for by an aunt until his concealment was given away by a neighbour. At just five years old, he was taken away by the Gestapo to a prison cell where he stayed overnight, alone and afraid.  He was taken to a transit camp where he was found by friends and family who helped to care for him. After 10 days, all the inmates were marched to Novi Sad train station to be transported to a further camp. One of Ivan’s aunts, who had been following his movements from outside, used the opportunity to stage a daring rescue where she snatched him from the line. She then bravely took him to her home and managed to conceal him for the remainder of the war. Ivan later learned the tragic news that both his parents had died in Nazi concentration camps – his father in Buchenwald and his mother in Bergen Belsen just days after liberation.

He now tells his story to young people as part of his work for The Holocaust Educational Trust.

For Zubair Khalifa, Faith and Character Education Lead at Eden Girls’ School, Coventry, it is essential that pupils continue to be taught about the Holocaust. He said:

“Learning about the Holocaust is vitally important as it demonstrates the dangers of prejudice and discrimination, be it the antisemitism that fuelled the Holocaust or other forms of racism and intolerance. It also allows the pupils to reflect upon modern issues that we are faced with in today’s society and to ensure we are all doing everything within our capability to ensure the past does not repeat itself.”

Added By: Star Academies | Date Added: 28th Jan 2020 | Posted In: Latest News