Holocaust Memorial Day continued

I blogged earlier about the fact that this is Holocaust Memorial Day.

There is a very moving piece in today's News and Star by two Cumbrian children who were part of a party from local schools who visited the former death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland last October to learn about the ghastly attempt by the Nazis to elimate various groups they didn't like including Jews and Gypsies.

The trip was organised and funded by the Government and lottery-backed Holocaust Educational Trust.

Trips like this form part of the trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz Project, which aims to teach students about what happened at the camp, preserve the memories of those who were killed and help tackle racism and prejudice.

One of the stories they learned was that of the synagogue at the village of Oswiecim, which was renamed Auschwitz during the Nazi occupation.

"The pre-war population of Oswiecim was 90 per cent Jewish. When it ended, only one sole Jew returned to the village.

Every morning he would walk to the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot synagogue and open the doors. Every evening he walked over the road and closed the doors.

Of course nobody attended the synagogue or the three prayer sessions each day, nor did anyone deliver them. All because there were no local Jews to attend."

You can read the full account here.

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