Bristol Holocaust Memorial Day 2023 Online Civic Commemoration
Our main speaker this year is John Hajdu MBE (https://www.hmd.org.uk/resource/john-hajdu), a Holocaust survivor who was born in Hungary and settled in the UK in 1957. We visited John at his home in North London, and it was an honour to hear his story for Holocaust Memorial Day. We also hear from: • Elinor Rose Beard, a 10-year-old local schoolgirl and activist. • Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol; Councillor Paula O'Rourke, the Lord Mayor of Bristol. • Two Bristol MPs. • Other local figures, such as the President of Bristol JSoc (Jewish Society). This year’s theme, from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, is ‘Ordinary People’. Holocaust Memorial Day not only remembers victims and survivors of the Holocaust, but also of Nazi persecution and the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. If you’re looking for reading recommendations to help you learn more about genocide awareness, please see the video for some great book ideas to get you started. Though we’d hoped to bring you a face-to-face event this year, our group is just too small to make it possible at the moment. We are all volunteers, meeting roughly once a month from September to January to plan our HMD commemoration. Though we follow guidance from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, we are not funded by them, so we also need to fundraise to cover our costs. Joining the group can give you hands-on experience of: • Event planning. • Fundraising. • Publicity. • Social media management. • Web development. • Project management. • Working with local charities and community groups (we have stalls from local charities at the event), or with secondary schools and colleges. You don’t need a personal connection to the Holocaust or to genocide victims to join the group. We welcome people of all ages, sexes, sexual orientations, gender identities, races, and religions (also those with no religion). We’re a friendly group, and we can’t wait to welcome new members. To find out more, please email [email protected].
