TY students and staff attend the National Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration 2011

On the 30th January 2011, Transition Year went to the National Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration held at the Mansion House. It was an incredibly moving night.  Holocaust survivors Zoltan Zinn-Collis, Jan Kaminski, Suzi Diamond and Tomi Reichental were there and gave short and yet extremely powerful addresses.  There were also addresses from John Dolan on behalf of people with disabilities, Beata Molendowska on behalf of the Poles, Sr Stanislaus Kennedy on behalf of the Gypsies, Michael Finlay on behalf of the homosexuals, Clement Esebamen on behalf of the black and ethnic minorities, Pat King on behalf of the Political victims, Colm O’Boyle on behalf of the Christian victims, they were all brilliant speakers and you realized that how many people were affected by the Holocaust. It was quite eye-opening. Another deeply  moving part of the night was when a scroll of names of victims of the Holocaust were called out. Tami Sheridan, Irena Williams and Fearghal Kelleher were the Stratford College representatives. Again it was an overwhelming experience as the list seemed never-ending. The musical interlude was performed by the Zimratya Choir directed by Dr. Yuriel Aaron.  It was a beautiful break which happened at two parts of the night. The whole night was an incredible experience and one I will never forget.

Sara Epstein (TY)

On Sunday, 30th January, the TY class joined by Mrs. Kenny and Miss Gordan attended the National Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration ceremony.
 
We listened in silence as speaker after speaker outlined the horror and sheer inhumanity of the Nazi system.
 
There were a variety of speakers which each outlined the Nazi policies on various groups. We heard speeches on the Nazi persecution of Poles, Gypsies, Homosexuals, Ethnic minorities, political opponents and Christians from representatives of various organizations that were connected to those groups. Above all, we listened to the persecution of the Jewish people who were the Nazis' main targets and endured the worst discrimation and treartment. Throughout the evening we listened to the music of Zimraty Choir who gave a sombre yet uplifting tone to the evening.
 
At the end of the ceremony we had a minute's silence and then the lighting of the candle to represent the different victims of the Nazis.
 
It was a once in the lifetime chance to go to this event and I think I can speak for my entire class that we found it extremely interesting and very moving.

John Nolan (TY)