Yom HaShoah and Holocaust Memorial Day
Yom HaShoah
Yom HaShoah is the day when the Jewish community worldwide, in Israel and the Diaspora, commemorates the memory of those of our people who were murdered by the Nazi regime in Germany, Eastern Europe and many other countries in Europe during their years in power from 1933-1945.
The date of Yom HaShoah was established to be the 27th Nisan by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in 1959. This date was selected as it was the day when the Warsaw Ghetto uprising against the Nazis began. Shoah is the Hebrew word for the Holocaust.
EHRS commemorates Yom HaShoah each year by an evening service. This service includes testimony by the first and second generation Shoah survivors who are part of our Synagogue community. We share the names of the family members of our community and light candles in their memory. Our choir’s music includes pieces composed during the Shoah.
Monday 6 May 2024, 20:00-21:00
In person and on the Livestream Classic Channel
This year we will be hearing testimony from EHRS member Fred Kalb and from the group from EHRS who returned a day before from Prague and Sobeslav, the hometown of our Sefer Torah rescued from the Shoah.
An important part of our memorial service is to commemorate the names of victims of the Holocaust who were relatives of our synagogue members, and then say a communal Kaddish in their memory. If you know of members of your family who perished in the Holocaust, please let us know their names and their relationship to you. Please email june.lewis@ehrs.uk or call 020 8238 1000.
Holocaust Memorial Day
Holocaust Memorial Day was established in 2001 as a national day of remembrance for all of the victims of the Holocaust (in Hebrew, the Shoah). Whilst Jews were by far the most numerous victims, six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis, Romany people, LBGT+ people and disables people were also murdered in their hundreds of thousands. Holocaust Memorial Day also serves as a day to remember the genocides that have continued to be perpetrated in the world, such as that of the Cambodian people, Tutsi people in Rwanda and Bosnian Muslims. The day of commemoration is 27th January each year, which was the day upon which the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Allies. More information can be found on the website of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Click here for their website.
EHRS always commemorates Holocaust Memorial Day. In recent years we have been among the communities who lead the Borough of Barnet Commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day.
This photo shows EHRS member Ivan Shaw giving his testimony at the event. The EHRS choir performs each year and our Rabbis and Cantor help to lead the act of commemoration.
We often host our local schools to explain the Shoah to their pupils in a Synagogue where many of our members were first generation survivors and many still are second and third generation survivors of the Shoah.
In 2024 we held a special event at the synagogue. EHRS member and nationally renowned sculptor created a bust of her fellow Synagogue member Kurt Marx. Kurt, at 98 years of age, is often called upon to give his testimony as a survivor of the Shoah. He came to the UK on the Kindertransport from his birthplace in Cologne in 1939. These two videos show Kurt giving his testimony:
Part 1 traces Kurt’s testimony from his birth in Cologne in 1925 up until his discovery that his parents had been murdered by the Nazis. Click here to view this 11 minute video.
Part 2 is Kurt’s testimony on how he came to be able to speak about his experiences in schools and other public gatherings in the UK, Germany and Belarus. Click here to view this 9 minute video.