A special remembrance service was held in Golders Green to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
Members of Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivors’ Centre, in Parson's Street, attended a service of commemoration along with the staff and volunteers, led by Rabbi Menachem Junik, Jewish Care’s spiritual and cultural lead.
The members were joined by Chazan Jonny Turgel, the grandson of Holocaust survivors including Gina Turgel z’l, who left a legacy in Holocaust education by sharing her story with thousands of people.
The Chazan sang at the moving service on Friday (January 27) before members lit candles of remembrance.
Lord Eric Pickles, now the United Kingdom special envoy for post-Holocaust studies, shared news of the planned UK Holocaust memorial and learning centre.
The memorial, which will honour the six million Jewish men, women and children who were murdered in the Holocaust, as well as all other victims of Nazi persecution, including Roma, gay and disabled people, will be erected in Victoria Tower Gardens next to Parliament.
Survivors call the Holocaust Survivors’ Centre, in the Maurice And Vivienne Wohl Campus, a second home.
Support is always available from caring staff and volunteers and therapeutic Shalvata service.
Rabbi Junik said: “I want to thank all of you, the survivors, for sharing your voice, of hope and of inspiration.
"And though we ask ourselves how the world still hasn’t learned lessons of the Holocaust, in the teachings of Rabbi Sacks z’l, if we want to change the world we have to change ourselves and respect for all of humanity, which is why it’s so important that we continue to learn the lessons from the Holocaust.”
Lord Pickles answered questions and underlined everyone's collective responsibility to come to accurately remember and learn about the dark reality of history and the atrocities that took place in towns across Europe and in concentration camps.
Daniel Carmel-Brown, Jewish Care’s chief executive, thanked attendees, adding: “A few years ago we took Young Jewish Care supporters to Poland and visited Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
"Being there with Renee Salt and those young people gave me a sense of real hope and inspiration. The world we are living in today is not an easy world but when I see all of you today, I see the hope you are bringing for the future and it brings the positivity we need to carry on and do justice for all that you achieve in your lives.”
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