Rochdale Falls Silent for the Holocaust Memorial Day

Date published: 28/01/2005

The 60th anniversary of the liberation of the extermination and concentration camps was remembered in as members of the community fell silent at the Town Hall at a special memorial service.

Rochdale Mayor, Cllr Angela Coric, led the large assembly from the Town Hall to the Memorial Gardens, where she read the re-dedication from the Old Testament. Other local dignitaries attended the service including, Lorna Fitzsimons MP, Council Leader Paul Rowen, and Cllr Ashley Dearnley. Paul Rowen said,  “We believe the Holocaust must have a permanent place in our nation’s collective memory; we honour the survivors still with us, and reaffirm our shared goals of mutual understanding and justice.”

A special guest at the service, Thea Hurst, shared her own personal experiences of life in Nazi Germany. 89-year-old Thea gave the crowd a personal reflection on her own traumatic experience while under Hitler’s power. “I was a refugee in Nazi Germany, and just seven years old when Hitler came to power. The worst night that I remember was 10 November 1938, when the Nazis showed us that we were unwanted. They broke down the doors of our home and shop; they looted and destroyed. They set our school on fire and they dragged away most of the men in our community. We were nothing, we had no rights”.

Members of the Youth Empowerment Forum came forward to read a poem, which was written by a Commander of a German submarine during World War 1:

First they came for the communists
And I did not speak, because I was not a communist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak, because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak, because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left, to speak for me

A 60 second silence was observed to remember the victims, and to show respect to the survivors that are still with us today. If you would like to know more about the holocaust memorial day, please visit the website: www.holocaustmemorialday.gov.uk