Below is the press release on next Wednesday's Holocaust Memorial Event in the Civic. This annual event to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz death camp is a must attend event to remember and reflect on the holocaust of World War Two and subsequent genocide horrors.

Holocaust Memorial Event at Reading’s Civic Centre

13/01/2014
Reading Borough Council Press Release


AN EVENING of reflection to remember victims of the Holocaust is to take place at the Civic Centre on Wednesday 22nd January. The theme for the event is ‘Journeys’.


This year’s guest speaker is Holocaust survivor Mr Zigi Shipper. Zigi was born in 1930 in Poland. In 1940 Zigi and his grandparents – he had lived with his grandparents since his parents’ divorce - were forced to move into the Łodz ghetto. During this year his father attempted to return to see him but could not get into the ghetto. Zigi never saw his father again and has never found out what happened to him.


In 1941, the ghetto’s residents, including Zigi and his grandmother, were rounded up to be deported. Zigi managed to jump off a lorry and escaped back into the ghetto where he remained, working in the metal factory, until the ghetto’s liquidation in 1944. Aged 14, Zigi was seized again and sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and then to a concentration camp near Danzig, where Zigi and the other survivors were liberated by British troops on 3rd May 1945. Zigi’s grandmother, who had been detained in a different concentration camp, died on the day it was liberated.


Zigi came to the UK in 1947, where he married and had a family, and now lives in Hertfordshire.


The Holocaust Memorial event has been organised by Reading Borough Council and the Alliance for Cohesion and Racial Equality (Acre). It is supported by Reading Hebrew Congregation, Berkshire Rwandese Community, Reading Faith Forum, Reading Refugee Support Group, Reading SACRE, Royal County of Berkshire Branch CCJ, Valpee Printing Company and the Reading Post.


The evening will include a presentation on ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ by Reading College students as well as a review of a book on Zeyneba Hardega, a Muslim woman who helped Jews escape from Sarajevo during the Second World War.


Councillor Jo Lovelock, Leader of Reading Borough Council, who will be speaking at the event said:


“The evening has been organised to reflect and remember those who died in the Holocaust. It is important we honour their memory and show our continued support and respect for the survivors.


“We should also remind ourselves that we must renew our determination to resist oppression today. There are still too many examples of dictatorship and war crimes in far too many places around the world.”


Victor Koroma, Manager of Acre said:


"Holocaust Memorial Day provides an opportunity for us to reflect on the stories of survivors of the Holocaust, Genocides and other human rights abuses in the hope that it will enable us to appreciate the impact of hate crime which goes unchallenged. Acre's involvement is driven by the need to encourage the diverse communities in Reading to learn from the past, foster a better understanding and good relationship between our different communities to facilitate the creation of a cohesive society in which all of us can fully participate."


A candle-lighting ceremony will take place on the night and entry to the remembrance event, which begins at 6.30pm, is free.


For more information, please call Victor Koroma at ACRE, 0118 9510 279, info@acre-reading.org




ENDS

Notes for Editors:

Holocaust Memorial Day is an annual event and marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The day highlights the results of prejudice and intolerance through learning about the Holocaust, other victims of Nazi racial policies and genocides