Wolverhampton Remembers: Holocaust Memorial Day

On Friday 26th January, the residents of Wolverhampton and the city's wider community came together to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

Strictly speaking, the official date of such remembrance falls on the 27th of January, but there was a real sense of community and spirit among those in attendance at the Georgian Suite within the Wolverhampton Art Gallery. This is to mark the anniversary of when the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was liberated on 27th January 1945.

This year was also more poignant given the 30th anniversary of subsequent genocides against the Tutsi's in Rwanda, and 19 years since similar events in Cambodia, which led to the murder of over one million Tutsi's in just 100 days of violence.

The Event

As previously mentioned, an array of attendees from varying background were in attendance, highlighting the important message that "Freedom means different things to different people".

There was a thought-provoking moment of silence called by the Mayor of Wolverhampton - Councillor Michael Hardacre - before six readings were called by a number of volunteers, which told the first-hand accounts of some of those in the midst of such harrowing circumstances.

The readings were followed by the Kaddish - a hymn to highlight gods importance within the Jewish community, as well as an address and blessing from the Rural Dean of Wolverhampton, Reverend Richard Merrick.

Further highlighting the importance an event like this holds to many people, guests were then invited to lay any wreaths alongside the Deputy Lieutenant of the West Midlands - Rajinder Mann OBE, the aforementioned Mayor of Wolverhampton alongside Councillors Chris Burden and Wendy Thompson.

How important are events like this?

Following the conclusion of the main event, when attendees still remained in the suite long after, the Rural Dean, Reverend Merrick spoke to us about how it felt to step in on behalf of the Bishop of Wolverhampton Clive Gregory, who announced his retirement at the beginning of the month.

"It's not something I would normally do. As Rural Dean, I substituted for the Bishop of Wolverhampton as the post is vacant at the moment, but it's been a privilege," he began.

"It's been enjoyable to see faces that I haven't seen for some considerable time and to catch up with them. But in terms of speaking, it was a privilege and an honour to have been asked."

The Mayor of Wolverhampton, Councillor Michael Hardacre also spoke to us about how important events like this are for the City.

"Events like this are vitally important, so that people know that the whole of civic society stands behind the concepts that lie behind the commemoration of Holocaust day."