PEOPLE packed into St Mary’s Guildhall last Friday (January 27) for a poignant service marking Holocaust Memorial Day.
This year’s event theme, chosen by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, was ordinary people.
The theme encouraged people to highlight the ordinary people who let genocide happen, those who actively perpetrated genocide, and those who were persecuted.
The service began with addresses from Coventry City Council deputy leader Coun Abdul Salam Khan and Lord Mayor Coun Kevin Maton.
These opening exchanges saw the councillors reflect on Coventry’s history of offering the hand of friendship to other cities in times of war and peace.
Holocaust survivor and Kindertransport child John Fieldsend was the main guest speaker, who told his remarkable story to the audience and showed them what they could learn from history.
Andrij IIchychyn performed a Ukrainian reading about Holodomor, a man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine between 1932 and 1933 which killed millions of people.
Both speakers also took part in question and answer sessions.
Eden School students read the poignant poems they wrote for the memorial day event, with each piece highlighting how young people can both remember the past and learn important lessons from history.
Coventry University Students Union Education Officer Bianca Andrei spoke about her visit to Auschwitz, and the
Coventry Voice Squad and the Coventry Music Brass Quintet provided music.
And the service ended with final words and a candle lighting led by Coun Khan.
He said: “Coventry is known throughout the world as a welcoming city of peace where people of all races and religions are welcome. Holocaust Memorial Day remains a very important event to Coventry and the people of the city.”
“Many of the people we have welcomed and continue to welcome here, have escaped persecution in their home countries and I am proud of the contribution and support we have made to help people make Coventry their new home.”
Holocaust Memorial Day was founded 23 years ago when 46 governments committed to preserving the memory of those who died in the atrocities.