Two events led by the Mayor of Ealing, Councillor Hitesh Tailor have taken place to mark Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) and its 2024 theme The Fragility of Freedom.
The events took place on 26 January 2024 with the first in Walpole Park and the second in Perceval House. Holocaust Memorial Day remembers the six million Jews and millions of other people who were murdered in the Holocaust under Nazi persecution and in genocides after in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
The Ealing events came a day before 27 January which marks the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.
At Walpole Park a service to mark the memorial stone laid to commemorate the rededication of the 6 Holocaust Memorial trees following their relocation from Uxbridge Road took place. This was donated by previous Mayor of Ealing, Councillor Munir Ahmed.
Among those speaking at Walpole Park included King’s Representative Deputy Lieutenant, Richard Kornicki CBE, Deputy Leader of Ealing Council, Councillor Deirdre Costigan and David Austin, trustee from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
The stone’s inscription reads:
“These trees were planted to remember the six million Jews and millions of others murdered in the Holocaust, under Nazi persecution, and in the genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.”
Deuteronomy ch 20 v. 19
כי האדם עץ השדה (Kie HaAdam Etz Hasadeh)
“Is the tree of the field a man”
This stone was laid to commemorate the rededication of the six Holocaust Memorial trees on 27 January 2022 following their relocation from Uxbridge Road.
The rededication was led by the Mayor of Ealing, Councillor Munir Ahmed.
Following the rededication at Walpole Park, the second event took place at The Atrium in Perceval House, 14-16 Uxbridge Road, Ealing W5 2HL.
The service was led by Reverend Dean Ayres, associate rector of Acton who spoke on HMD’s theme of Fragility of Freedom. Other speakers who took part included Rabbi Hershi Vogel from Ealing United Synagogue, Dr Rupa Huq, MP for Ealing Central & Acton, Councillor Deirdre Costigan, Deputy Leader of the Council and Jeannette Marx who told the story of her late mother, Mascha Nachmansson, who was a survivor of the Holocaust.
Students from Elthorne Park High School, Brentside High School, Ellen Wilkinson High School, Northolt High School and Drayton Manor High School also took part.
The proceedings concluded with a closing speech from the Mayor and the Rector of Acton, Reverend Joseph Fernandes offered a blessing.
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