Oak tree planted in park to mark Holocaust Memorial Day
Holocaust Memorial Day was marked in Peasedown St John with the planting of a tree.
The oak was planted in Eckweek Lane play park in front of a gathering that included residents and Sarah Bevan, who represents Peasdown on B&NES Council, and is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor.
Meanwhile Bath MP Wera Hobhouse honoured victims of the Holocaust in a moving speech in the Commonson the day itself, January 27.
“I was honoured to speak in the Holocaust memorial debate last Thursday. Holocaust Memorial Day is a time for us to remember all those who were persecuted or murdered in the Holocaust,” she said.
Mrs Hobhouse spoke of her grandmother who was half Jewish, her grandmother’s first husband who was Jewish, and her uncle who was in Dachau concentration camp in 1936, but managed to escape with the help of Scandinavian friends. She spoke of her grandfather who resigned as a judge from the Court of Appeal after Hitler installed the people’s court, Volksgericht, which was a political court to deal with those seen as an enemy of the state. She urged people to not let the Holocaust disappear into the history books but to keep it alive and learn from it.
“It is also a time to strengthen our commitment to work towards a world where such awful suffering never happens again,” said Ms Hobhouse. “I will always stand up and speak out about the need for us to keep our eyes wide open to where barbarism begins .”
Meanwhile in Bath, the Bath & North East Somerset Faith Foundation was chosen as a partner organisation by the Association of Jewish Refugees. Foundation patron Cllr Bevan said: “We were pleased to work with the Association of Jewish Refugees on this important initiative. Jewish refugees have contributed enormously to British life since first arriving here over 80 years ago, and so to have Bath & North East Somerset selected as one of the locations for an oak tree is immensely humbling.”
The special tree planting ceremony also commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Association of Jewish Refugees.
Michael Hilsenrath, the son of a Holocaust Survivor and sponsor of the tree, travelled from London for the event, which was also attended by Cllr Lisa O’brien, chair of B&NES Council, Cllr Karen Walker, Dr Vicki Collinson, Hillcrest GP Surgery, Christina Hilsenrath, Chair of the Friends of Bath Jewish Burial Ground and George Macdonald of the Association of Jewish Refugees.