Holocaust Memorial Day to be marked with event in Stroud

An event organised by Community Solidarity Stroud District with support from Stroud Against Racism and the Stroud Red Band will take place 

It's on Sunday, January 29 from 2pm to 3pm, and it's being held in Park Gardens by the war memorial.

There will be some music from the Red Band, and songs performed by children from a local school.

Speakers from local antiracist and faith groups will make short speeches, including the Kaddish - the Jewish prayer of remembrance, to remember the six million Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis, as well as the victims of other genocides.

The event will be led by Reverend Simon Howell of St Lawrence's church, and Leader of Stroud District Council Catherine Braun will also speak.

"For me, the point of Holocaust Memorial Day is to remember what fascism was able to make ordinary people do to their fellow humans, " said Jeremy Green, one of the organisers.

"Many of the perpetrators of the Holocaust were not monsters or sadists, just normal people doing what they felt was their duty.

"We need to remember what happened, in the heart of “civilised” Europe, to one “civilised” people at the hands of another “civilised” people, with all of the resources of a modern industrial state, to make sure that it can never happen again."

These events come as a Holocaust survivor has warned Britons to be vigilant against antisemitism as the country remembers the genocide of six million Jews on Holocaust Memorial Day.

John Dobai, 89, lived through the Second World War as a child in Budapest, Hungary, but five of his family members were killed – two grandfathers, two aunts and a cousin, who was just 17.

Mr Dobai - who has lived in Britain since 1948 - told the PA News Agency that antisemitism is as prominent in modern Britain as it has ever been.

He said: “I have lived in this house for over 60 years and for 59 years I did not see any sign of antisemitism.

“But in the last 12 to 18 months we had graffiti on benches along the towpath saying ‘Holocaust: six million lies’ and similar graffiti on walls and benches in the neighbourhood.