Warwick community marks Holocaust Memorial Day

Holocaust Memorial Day was marked at the Warwick War Memorial with a special service of prayers and poetry readings.

This year is the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination camp. The theme of the commemoration was ‘Stand Together’.

Standing together at the war memorial were civic dignitaries from the town, district and county councils, military personnel and the MP for Warwick and Leamington, Matt Western, with the prayers led by Father Patrick Mileham.

Local schools have been involved this year, with projects about the holocaust in World War Two and subsequent genocides.

A group of children from Coten End School were at the ceremony and there were poetry readings by Katie Walsh and Jennifer Worsh from King’s High School, Lawrence Gartshore from Warwick School and Sabeeha Iqbal from Aylesford School.

The Mayor of Warwick, Cllr, Neale Murphy, laid a wreath of white flowers. The ceremony concluded with Holocaust survivor, Bill Heilbronn, reading the poem Exodus by Benjamin Fondane before the two minutes’ silence, the memorial prayer for the Victims of the Shoah, and the blessing.

Dave Sternberg, one of the organisers, said: "Each year more and more people come to this thoughtful occasion.

"Especially pleasing is the number of schools and school children who get involved both by coming and by having assemblies to remember and learn the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides.

"It's also nice that Mayors of neighbouring towns come to join us in marking the day."