Holocaust Memorial Day 2025

Holocaust Memorial Day 2025

Holocaust Memorial Day 2025 - For a Better Future

This year Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) marks 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp. It is also the thirtieth anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia. The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day for 2025 is 'For a Better Future'. 

Following the 7 October attacks by Hamas and the subsequent war in Gaza we saw an increase in antisemitism (anti-Jewish hatred) in the UK and extremists are exploiting the situation to stir up anti-Muslim hatred. People and communities feel vulnerable, with hostility and suspicion of others rising. 

80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz we need to be the generation that carries on the legacy of the survivors, the witnesses to the Holocaust. We must not just remember those who were murdered and persecuted but challenge those who distort or deny the past and those who choose to persecute and discriminate today. 

On Holocaust Memorial Day 2025, we can all commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day and pay tribute to those who were persecuted, attacked and killed by committing to working 'For a Better Future' for everyone.

 

“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?" – Sophie Scholl's last words.

Sophie Scholl, a 21 year old college student and member of the non-violent White Rose Group, was executed for handing out leaflets calling for passive resistance against the Nazi government. Sophie gave her life For a Better Future.

Newcastle's Holocaust Memorial Day Programme

Groups. communities and organisations, with support from the council, have once again created a moving tribute to those who lost their lives or who suffered in the Holocaust, in Bosnia and in all genocides. All the events in our programme are based on the theme of For a Better Future.

Numbers and Labels: The Jews of Pardubice - Exhibition

Thursday 16 January to Thursday 30 January - Level 1, Newcastle City Library

A unique exhibition created by a member of the Jewish community representing the mass transportation of the Pardubice Jews to to Terezin and Auschwitz. 

Tickets: Booking is not required for this free event.

Brundibár Arts Festival

The Brundibár Arts festival is an annual programme of events that showcases little known music written during the Holocaust. It was launched in 2016 as the first annual festival of its kind. The festival takes it's name from the children's opera "Brundibár", meaning bumblebee, which was first performed by children in Theresienstad concentration camp in 1943. 

Brundibár Arts festival opening concert: Composers forced to exile in the US

Saturday 18 January, 7pm. St James Reformed Church

This concert will explore works by composers who fled for their lives from the Nazis during to the US. The works performed in this concert represent the composers attempts to assimilate, their yearning for a home that may never be again and, sometimes, a protest. 

Tickets: Find out more and purchase tickets visit https://www.brundibarartsfestival.com/

Brundibár Arts festival:  Music, Migration and Mobility Exhibition

Thursday 23 January, 7pm. Gosforth Civic Centre

The Music Migration and Mobility exhibition created on 12 roll up banners continues it's journey. As part of a four year project the display studied the mobile lives, artistic products and impact on British culture who came from Nazi ruled Europe during the 1930s and 1940s.

Tickets: Find out more and purchase tickets visit https://www.brundibarartsfestival.com/

Brundibár Arts festival:  Cabaret - What a Life by Hans Gál

Thursday 23 January, 8pm. Gosforth Civic Centre

In May 1940, Nazi-Germany launched a surprise attack on Belgium and the Netherlands. Faced with the threat of an invasion and in fear of sabotage, the British Government embarked on a policy of mass internment of German and Austrian Nationals in the United Kingdom. The large majority of the prisoners were Jewish and other refugees who had escaped persecution by the Nazi Regime and were ready to fight against the Nazis together with the British.

They had to stay in the camps for many months until the authorities had dealt with each case individually. Most of the internees were brought to the Isle of Man, which had already been used for internment during World War One. The composer Hans Gál (1890-1987) became a leading member of the arts committee at Central Camp in the capital Douglas.

After several successful concerts of classical music, the arts committee decided to put on a comic revue to provide much needed light entertainment. It was the brainchild of the Austrian film director Georg Höllering (1897-1980), who had worked with Berthold Brecht on the film ‘Kuhle Wampe’ in 1932. He asked Gál to compose the music for it and called it ‘What a Life!’.

The songs are parodies of actual life in the camp, making fun of the seagulls, the barbed wire, the gender separation, the fitness routine, cleaning up, sharing double beds and observing the blackout.

Unfortunately, the text of the spoken dialogue scenes that were performed between the musical numbers does not survive. What we do have are the songs and instrumental numbers from Gál’s manuscripts, and his wonderful diary ‘Music behind Barbed Wire’, which recounts the whole episode of internment and the creation of the revue in great detail. In performances, we will intersperse the songs with relevant excerpts from Gál’s diary to put them in context. The excerpts have been included with kind permission from Eva Fox-Gál.

Tickets: Find out more and purchase tickets visit https://www.brundibarartsfestival.com/

A Living Tradition: Remembering the Relief of Belsen

Thursday 23 January, 5.30pm. Bewick Hall, Newcastle City Library 
Friday 24 January, 3.00pm. Community Room, West End Library  

Two events to commemorate and celebrate the role played by one of our local regiments n the Relief of Belsen in the spring of 1945. The 113 LAA RA TA, affiliated to the Durham Light Infantry, helped Jewish, Roma and other survivors. There will be illustrated talks by local historian Peter Sagar and ex-MEP Julie Ward, and the screening of an interview with Frank Lavin from Hartlepool, whose father Wilf was part of the DLI detachment at Bergen-Belsen in April and May 1945. Young people from North Benwell Youth Project, many from a Roma background, will show how they have responded to the story through artwork.

Tickets: Booking is not required for this free event.

Acknowledging the Past for a Better Future - Exhibition#

Friday 24 and Saturday 25 January, 10am to 4pm. West Fifteen Business Centre, Whickham View, NE15 6UN

Photographs and documents tell the story of the often overlooked persecution of the Roma people during the Holocaust, revealing their suffering and resilience and providing an opportunity to remember, reflect and learn. Audiences will have the opportunity to develop a better understanding of the past, and to recognise the profound impact of prejudice, discrimination and systemic violence.

Tickets: Booking is not required for this free event.

Roma Holocaust - Commemorative Event

Saturday 25 January, 3.00pm. West Fifteen Business Centre, Whickham View, NE15 6UN

A commemoration to honour all Holocaust victims, with a special focus on the Roma community. This reflective event will provide time and space to remember those who suffered and to renew our commitment to building a future free from prejudice and hate. 

Tickets: Booking is not required for this free event.

Brundibár Arts festival:  In Exile - Closing concert

Sunday 26 January, 7.30pm. Kings Hall, Newcastle University

Programme:
S.Rachmaninov: Arrangement of Mussorgsky Hopak for violin & piano
E Toch: String Trio op.63
R.Kahn: 3 pieces for cello op.25
Interval
F.Chopin: Ballade no.1 in G minor
B.Martinu: Fantasia H 301
Aftab Darvishi: Special Festival Commission 2025: “Dance with me under the Falling Ruins"

Tickets: Find out more and purchase tickets visit https://www.brundibarartsfestival.com/

For a Better Future: Holocaust Memorial Day Commemorative Event

Sunday 26 January, 2pm - Invite only

Inspired by this year's theme the Representative Council of North East Jewry will focus on younger voices,
the voices of the future, at the city's central commemoration event. They will will remember the Jews of the Pardubice region of Czechoslovakia, all of those sent to concentration camps by the Nazis in 1942. Only a handful returned.

Hundreds of Torah scrolls were rescued from Pardubice after the war. One made the journey to the UK to be restored and was eventually adopted by a Newcastle synagogue as a 'survivor of the Shoah'. The Pardubice Scroll is now regularly used in services serving as a poignant reminder that with human endeavour, out of the tragedy of the past there is always hope for a better future. 

The event will feature a children's choir from local schools performing a new song, commissioned from members of the local Jewish community, based on this year's theme. Professor Yitka Graham of Sunderland University will share her family connection to the region, and her experience of visiting the Terezin concentration camp.

A recording will be available on YouTube after the event which can be accessed at www.northeastjewish.org. uk/news

Peace is Personal - Talk

Wednesday 29 January, 2pm. Bewick Hall, City Library and online livestream

Smajo Beso OBE was born in Bosnia in 1985. His father and male relatives were tortured in concentration camps as Bosnian Muslims became targets of genocide. Some of his family were murdered. Smajo and his family arrived in Newcastle as refugees in 1994, when he was just nine years old.  To commemorate the thirtieth anniversary, join Smajo as he shares his first hand account of the Bosnian genocide. 

This event will be supported by a British Sign Language interpreter. Personal hearing loops will also be available on request at time of booking.

Tickets: To reserve a place at this free event please visit https://discoverymuseum.org.uk/whats-on/holocaust-memorial-day-talk 

Turning to Face the Sun - Performance event

Thursday 30 January, 12 noon and 2.30pm. Bewick Hall, Newcastle City Library

Skimstone Arts presents a story sharing event using light, audio and live performances. Inspired by Ukrainian, Jewish, Palestinian, Kurdistan, Iraqi and other war testimonies this event explores what it means to look for hope and resolution and to dream of a better future and what part we can play as individuals. The event includes a 'Manifestation' by Unity Tree, a Ukrainian performance group based in the North East. 

 Tickets: Booking is not required for this free event.

When the Holocaust became the Holocaust: Changing imaginations of genocide in the west

Thursday 30 January, 5.15pm. Bewick Hall, Newcastle City Library

Professor Ian Buddle tells the story of how we came to understand the term 'Holocaust' and where it comes from. Who first used it? How did we make sense of the systematic slaughter of millions of people? How has our understanding of it changed.

Tickets: Booking is not required for this free event.

Take part in Holocaust Memorial Day

Holocaust Memorial Day Online

There are lots of ways to get involved in Holocaust Memorial Day online or using your social media including watching the Holocaust Memorial Day 2024 UK ceremony.  By becoming part of the online conversation you can help spread messages of understanding and tolerance.

To find out more about taking part in Holocaust Memorial Day online visit https://www.hmd.org.uk/take-part-in-holocaust-memorial-day/marking-holocaust-memorial-day-online/ 

Organise an activity

Every year local Holocaust Memorial Day activities take place across the UK. They bring people from all backgrounds together to learn more about the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and the genocides that followed. They also offer an opportunity for people to consider how we can all make our society a better place that is free from hatred, prejudice and discrimination.

Holocaust Memorial Day Trust supports individuals and organisations to mark Holocaust Memorial Day by providing free resources, historical information and ideas for how to get involved. 

For more information visit https://www.hmd.org.uk/take-part-in-holocaust-memorial-day/organising-an-activity/ 

Light the Darkness

Every year people from across the UK and around the world put a lit candle in their window to Light the Darkness. Join the national Light the Darkness moment at 8pm on Monday 27 January

In Newcastle the Civic Centre will be lit purple as residents from across the city light candles in memory of victims of the Holocaust and other genocides, in tribute to the survivors and to take a stand against the prejudice, discrimination and hatred that still exist today.

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