On Wednesday January 27th, Bolton’s annual Holocaust Memorial Day, organised by Chan Parmar, from Bolton Interfaith Council, was hosted by the University Technical College on Deane Road.
The theme was ‘Don’t Stand By’ – a sobering reminder that the horrors of genocide are not confined to the distant past and that thousands of innocent people still suffer cruelty and injustice.
Special guests included the Mayor of Bolton Councillor Carole Swarbrick, Cliff Morris – Leader of Bolton Council – and Rabbi Lever. Master of Ceremonies was Canon Matt Thompson, Vicar of Bolton. The event included a display of poems and drawings by children from schools in the Bolton area.
The event began with ‘I Believe in the Sun’, sung by Matthew Kay from Bolton School. The lyrics, set to music by Howard Goodall, came from graffiti found on a cell wall in Cologne where Jews had been hiding before being deported to a concentration camp. After speeches by Canon Thompson and Councillor Swarsbrick, the Candle of Hope Lighting ceremony was performed, followed by readings and singing by a number of the many schoolchildren present for the event. A prayer by Rabbi Lever was followed by a minute of silence, then Riya Kalhan from Bolton School sang ‘Where Corals Lie’ by Elgar. There were further readings by children and then Judith Hayman, from Manchester Jewish Council, gave a reading on ‘Anti Judaism – the oldest hatred.’
Ella Kaut-Howson, a pupil at Bolton School, read a moving extract from her great-grandmother’s war diary – a moment of great poignancy given that Ella’s great-grandmother was a Polish Jew, who escaped from the Nazis with her two young daughters.
After a speech by Councillor Clifford Morris the event closed with Carl Austin playing ‘Elegy for Solo Viola’ by Stravinsky.