On January 11 the Under 18’s at Gillingham FC had Natalie Meltzer from the Holocaust Education Trust deliver a workshop for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is on January 27.
Natalie spoke about her Grandfather, Harry Balsam. Harry Balsam experienced the inhumane acts of the Gestapo first hand after witnessing the tragic murder of his older Brother who was just 11 years old when he was shot.
After being placed in a Concentration Camp, Harry lived in the villa depicted in Schindler's List and cleaned shoes for Joseph Müeller, the commander of the Concentration Camp. To find out more about Harry’s story, you can read more here: https://www.thejc.com/life-and-culture/the-extraordinary-tale-of-the-jewish-shoeshine-boy-to-a-nazi-commandant-xb8ibpru
The Holocaust was the murder of approximately six million Jewish men, women and children by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during the Second World War. The Holocaust is often referred to as the Shoah, the Hebrew word for catastrophe.
When we talk about the mass murder of European Jews, we are not only referring to the loss of millions of lives, but also the disappearance of cultures, communities, languages and traditions. The Holocaust was the most radical escalation and violent expression of antisemitism – hatred or prejudice against Jewish people.
Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), established in 2000, is marked each year on 27th January – the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp by the Soviet Red Army.
On and around this day, schools, communities, faith groups and others across the UK join together in national and local events to commemorate the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered in the Holocaust by the Nazis and their collaborators, as well victims of other acts of Nazi persecution and of subsequent genocides.
If you would like to know more about the work that the Holocaust Education Trust do, you can find out more here: Holocaust Educational Trust - Holocaust Memorial Day 2024 (het.org.uk)]
The club's Sky Bet League Two home fixture against Forest Green is our dedicated International Holocaust Memorial Day.
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On 27th January we remember the Holocaust, the murder of six million Jewish men, women, and children by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Second World War.
Between 1939 and 1945, Jews across Europe were forced into ghettos, separated from the rest of their towns and villages, starved, beaten, and deported to concentration and death camps where they were murdered. Other communities were killed in streets, forests and ravines close to where they had lived for centuries. The Nazis attempted to kill every Jewish individual throughout Europe and wherever they could be found.
Britain and its allies fought the Nazis and in the final months of the war many soldiers witnessed horrific scenes as they liberated the camps. These memories stayed with them for the rest of their lives, and many veterans were never able to speak about what they saw.
After the war, several survivors having lost parents and siblings, and having experienced unimaginable horrors, eventually came to Britain and rebuilt their lives. These people, who are now in their 80s and 90s, have made amazing contributions to British society, becoming teachers, dentists, architects, actors, business owners and even Olympic champions.
The crimes of the Nazis shook the world, and are remembered every year on Holocaust Memorial Day, 27th January, the day that the notorious concentration and death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, was liberated.
On Holocaust Memorial Day, we remember the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis. We also remember other victims of Nazi persecution, including the Roma and Sinti community, homosexuals, disabled people, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and political opponents. We remember the atrocities of the past, and pledge to ensure that humanity does not repeat the same mistakes again.
The Holocaust Educational Trust is the leading UK charity working to raise awareness and to educate about the Holocaust.