THE DAUGHTER of two parents who fled Germany as child refugees in 1939 will be the main speaker at Coventry’s annual Holocaust Memorial Day service.
Hilary Hodsman is the daughter of Henry Wuga MBE and Ingrid Wuga BEM.
Her parents were both born in Germany in 1924 and left 15 years later as part of the Kindertransport which allowed 10,000 unaccompanied Jewish children to enter the UK.
Hilary will be sharing stories from her parents’ experiences as well as their work carried out in the UK at the event.
The service will take place at the Belgrade Theatre on Saturday, January 27 between 1pm and 3pm.
Holocaust Memorial Day remembers the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution and in the genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
The theme of this year’s event is Fragility of Freedom, which highlights how freedom is restricted and removed from those targeted for persecution.
Also speaking is Mario Kosmirak who will be delivering a presentation about Holodomor, a year-long man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine which started in 1932 and killed millions of Ukrainians.
Barr’s Hill School and theatre group, Highly Sprung, will be performing an improvisation piece reflecting on hope and family life during the Holocaust.
Blue Coat School’s choir and Coventry Music’s brass quintet will also be performing.
Coun Jaswant Singh Birdi, Lord Mayor of Coventry City Council, a turbaned Sikh, who emigrated from Panjab, said: “I have lived in Coventry for the last six decades and have seen over that period Coventry City welcoming people from the rest of the globe with open arms, people who have settled here and made positive contributions towards enhancing the ongoing work of peace, tolerance and friendship.”
