Welcome to our May 2009 newsletter. If you have any colleagues who may be interested in the work of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust please pass this newsletter on and encourage them to join our mailing list.
You can call any member of our team on 0845 838 1883 or email enquiries@hmd.org.uk
HMD 2010 Theme: The Legacy of Hope
HMDT is pleased to announce the theme for HolocaustMemorial Day 2010
27th January 2010 – Holocaust Memorial Day – marks the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz- Birkenau. On this day, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust is challenging everyone across the UK to become part of a Legacy of Hope. HMD 2010 offers an opportunity to listen to the voices from the Holocaust and Nazi persecution, and to make the lessons of hope for a safer, inclusive society where the differences between us are respected a reality today and in the future.
Holocaust survivors have played an immense role in bringing our attention to the lessons of the Holocaust. They speak of pain and loss, of strength and survival, of despair and their wish for a Legacy of Hope. They encourage us to look within and without, to be sure of our moral compass, to be certain of our choices and to use our voice, whenever we can, to speak out. They have translated difficult experiences to create a future that is free from the dangers of exclusion and persecution. They have passed a message of resilience and hope to the next generation.
Our responsibility is to remember those who were persecuted and murdered, because their lives were wasted. Our challenge is to make the experience and words of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides a meaningful part of our future. The aspirations of those who have suffered from the effects of the Holocaust and of genocide around the world, should inform our lives today. Their words can make us think about our own attitudes, our behaviour, our choices, the way we vote, the way we interact with one another, the way we respect and celebrate the differences between us and the way in which we build a safer future together. It is their example that can inspire us to greater action. We need to ask ourselves what we should be doing today to build a safer, stronger society so that the risk of the building blocks of genocide ever being laid is removed.
As humanitarian activist Hugo Slim says of the voices that speak out of tragedy to our shared sense of humanity: “We need to listen, for a change.”
You can download the full theme paper here
How HMDT can help…
HMD 2010 offers every community the opportunity to commit themselves to carry forward The Legacy of Hope by holding events to commemorate HMD 2010.
Guidance for community organisers and schools will be available on the HMD website in late summer and will offer practical advice on a variety of issues including how to use the theme, lesson plans and assemblies, securing speakers for your events and publicising your event.
Members of the HMDT team are always happy to discuss your planning and help to ensure that your event is as inclusive and as successful as possible.
You can contact any member of the team on enquiries@hmd.org.uk or 0845 838 1883.
Free Resources Available
HMDT resources can be used by educators and community organisers to mark many anniversaries and commemorative events across the year.
If you would like a copy of the HMD09 education pack or copies or any of our posters, please contact the HMDT office.
For suggestions of how to use our resources to mark dates such as International Day Against Homophobia and World Refugee Day, visit the Dates to Remember section of the HMDT website.
The Anne Frank Trust announces activities to mark the 80th anniversary of Anne Frank’s birth
Anne Frank would be 80 years old on June 12th this year. To mark this significant birthday the Anne Frank Trust has relaunched its Anne Frank Tree planting programme for local authorities, schools, and other public and private venues.
The poignant tree planting ceremony, which includes selected readings from Anne’s diary, a specially written poem by former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen and the Anne Frank Declaration, is available to
download free from www.annefrank.org.uk
The Anne Frank Trust will take delivery of a sapling from the tree that Anne looked upon during her years of hiding. Proposals are invited from local authorities for the most appropriate planting of this sapling.
There will also be a new Anne Frank Day primary and secondary school assembly and other suggested activities to encourage young people to reflect on what Anne’s adult life could have been.
For further information Anne Frank Trust events, exhibitions and resources please contact Imogen Topliss on 020 7284 5858.
New Publication: Genocide—My Stolen Rwanda
For thirteen days in April 1994, Reverien Rurangwa hid in silence with his family in a tiny cabin on the side of a mountain until they were finally hunted down by their Hutu neighbours. In minutes, 43 members of his family were massacred before his eyes.
Rurangwa alone escaped, missing a hand and an eye. He was eventually rescued and sent to Switzerland by a relief organisation. In this extraordinary memoir he recounts his experience as a ‘survivor uprooted’ in exile, and attempts to confront the ‘enigmatic power of evil’ which has so blighted his life.
As with all titles published by Reportage Press, a proportion of the proceeds from the book will go to the charity Ibuka Memory and Justice, of which Reverien is deputy chairman.
‘Genocide: My Stolen Rwanda’ is available directly through
www.reportagepress.com or in all good book shops.
Resistance: which way the future?
Resistance: which way the future? is a moving image installation that takes as its starting point the programme of mass-murder targeting Disabled people and, crucially, Disabled people’s resistance to As well as exploring a neglected period of history it raises critical questions for today.
Created by Liz Crow and produced by Roaring Girl Productions, Resistance is now available for booking museums, galleries and other venues for a tour beginning this autumn.
A video 3d-visualisation of the installation is at: http:/vimeo.com/3175590
For discuss bookings, please contact producer Nemia Brooks on nemia.brooks@yahoo.co.uk
