Holocaust memorial held at White Rock
ISLANDERS gathered at the White Rock memorials yesterday to pay tributes to local and international victims of genocide to ensure they are remembered for generations to come.
The day coincided with Yom HaShoah, which is Holocaust Remembrance Day in the Jewish calendar, different to Holocaust Remembrance day in the UK and Europe, which is held on 27 January.
The Dean, the Very Rev. Tim Barker, who led the service, described the significance of the day to the gathering of about 50 islanders.
‘Our local Jewish community uses Yom HaShoah to give thanks to our freedoms and safety, and mark that by gathering in public with all the community here in St Peter Port,’ he said.
‘This year we continue to remember both the genocides of the past, and the war and violence that today blights the lives of millions in Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere.’
The Foreign Workers Memorial was the first of the three to be commemorated, in memory of those who were brought to Guernsey and Alderney to work for the Nazis as forced labourers.
Mr Barker read from the book of Genesis before a candle was lit.
The Guernsey Eight Memorial was the next to be honoured, where the names of Sidney Ashcroft, Joseph Gillingham, John Ingrouille, Charles Machon, Percy Miller, Herbert Smith, Marie Ozanne and Louise Symes are engraved into history.
They are remembered for their bravery in standing up to the occupying Nazis, with some being found guilty of protest, defiance and resistance.
An extract from the book of Proverbs was read before a candle was lit.
The memorial to the three Jewish women, Marianne Grunfeld, Auguste Spitz and Therese Steiner, who all died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau followed last.
Following a recital from Psalm 137, a piece about Jews during the Babylonian exile, local member of the Jewish community Mathew Newman read the Mourners’ Kaddish to the gathering, before a silence was held and a candle was lit.
He said that Yom HaShoah acts as a powerful reminder of how we should act towards others.
‘It’s an extremely important day for everyone to remember and to keep remembering because it [anti-Semitism] is still going on,’ said Mr Newman.
‘It’s not just about Jewish people – regardless of race, sex or religion we need to treat everyone with kindness.’
The service concluded with a prayer from Mr Barker.
