IN honour of the National Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January, Manchester will hold a number of events commemorating the Holocaust. This date is also the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945 and the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Holocaust Memorial Day is a time to remember the victims of the Holocaust and other atrocities. They should never be forgotten
Manchester City Council and UK Jewish Film have invited an audience of high school children and community groups to a special screening of 'Nicky's family', a film where the story of Sir Nicholas Winton and his rescue mission is told. In 1939 he planned the Czech Kindertransport that saved the lives of 669 children. A guest speaker at this event is Lady Milena Grenfell Baines who, at the age of nine, was one of the hundreds of children saved by Sir Nicholas Winton.
Chief Executive of Manchester City Council, Sir Howard Bernstein will host an event at the Manchester Town Hall on the 25 January where the 83-year-old Holocaust survivor Jack, who was the sole survivor of his family, will share his story.
On the eve of Holocaust Day the Manchester Jewish museum will have a special ceremony where the theatre company Ensemble will plant the 'Souvenir d'Anne Frank' rose in the museum grounds.
Ensemble will also premier a new production, telling the story of Anne Frank, her father and the rose at the Zion Arts Centre in Hulme. The museum will open a temporary exhibition named The Windermere Boys, which will be open from 29 January until 31 May 2012. It tells the story of 300 Jewish children who were sent to the UK and eventually settled in the country, many of them in Manchester.
Councillor Sue Murphy, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said: "Holocaust Memorial Day is a time to remember the victims of the Holocaust and other atrocities. They should never be forgotten and it is important that we continue to remember and educate our young people. As time passes there are less survivors to talk about their experience and it is a privilege to hear survivors recount their stories first hand. All of the events that are taking place give us the opportunity to learn the lessons from the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and subsequent genocides and to promote the message of peace, respect and tolerance."
