Tuesday January 27 was Holocaust Remembrance Day, and this year’s theme, designated by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, was Bridging Generations.

Year 10 and Year 12 WA students attended and participated in a service to honour Holocaust Memorial Day at the Imperial War Museum as representatives of a young generation who still work to make sure the Holocaust is remembered.  

The event was a concert, given by the English Chamber Orchestra, which was founded by Holocaust survivor, Anita Lasker. Among the pieces played were those that she wrote as well as pieces by other Holocaust survivors. In between the pieces of music, WA students Shirin Andaloussi, Zara Sindhi and Jasmine Rahman performed readings of survivors’ reflections on the Holocaust.  

Holocaust Memorial Day is a day both to honour the memory of those who died in and survived the Holocaust and also to honour what we can learn from it about preventing the reoccurrence of the Holocaust or any other genocide.  As such, it was really important that this ceremony honoured the words, reflections and creations of survivors as well as including our WA students as ambassadors to the future.  

After the ceremony, the WA students took part in a workshop in the Holocaust Galleries at the museum, in which they again learned about specific victims of the Holocaust as well as the history of how and why it happened. 

Ms Matlis, History Subject Lead