Haringey Holocaust Memorial Day

Rabbi David represented the MHS community at the Haringey Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony:

Yesterday, I was honoured to be involved in organising Haringey Council Holocaust Memorial Day Ceremony, supporting Cllr Sheila Peacock who tirelessly ensures that this vital ceremony happens each year. We heard such moving accounts from Mirsad Solakovic from Bosnia, Pierre Rusenga from Rwanda and Irene Kurer who came to the UK on Kindertransport leaving many friends and family behind. The speakers were so inspiring, so emotional and really brought home what it meant to them to have been ripped from their homes and lost so much of their family. The ceremony brought home to me how important HMD is and many thanks go to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and Olivia Marks-Woldman for help and advice.

Prayers were said by Revd Bob Allaway, Bibi Khan, Rabbi Nicky Liss and Israfil Erbil (from the Alevi community) and leaders of different faiths introduced our speakers.

Altogether, the event went really well and left all very moved – there were possible 200 people in the council chamber and it is great to see more coming each year

I can only end with quite sage words written by Hugo Rifkind in 2015:

“This is the point of remembering the Holocaust. It’s not an act of honour for those who died, or an act of defiance against those who killed them. That’s too easy. Rather, it is like the coin carried by an alcoholic, to remind him not to drink. To remember is to remain aware that we, as humans, balance on the very lip of the unspeakable; always far closer to toppling than we might wish to admit. All of us, everywhere, all the time”