Holocaust Memorial Day
Friday 27 January 2023
Service of Dedication of The Woodside Park Synagogue Holocaust Memorial Sunday 22 January 2023
The chilly January weather did not prevent some 350 people attending a service in Woodside Park Synagogue on the Sunday before Holocaust Memorial Day to dedicate its own Holocaust Memorial. It was created by sculptor Susannah Simmons and depicts angels ascending to a flame from behind a ring of barbed wire. It has been donated by members of the Dimson, Edelman, Elton and Lask families.
The sculpture was dedicated in the presence of the MP for Chipping Barnet, the Rt. Hon. Theresa Villiers; the Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London, Martin Russell DL FCT; the Mayor of Barnet, Cllr. Alison Moore; the Leader of Barnet Council, Cllr. Barry Rawlings; the President, Vice-President and Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Marie van der Zyl OBE, Edwin Shuker and Michael Wegier; the Chair of the Association of Jewish Refugees and Trustee of the Holocaust Educational Trust, Michael Karp OBE; The President, Treasurer and Trustees of the Barnet Multi Faith Forum, Esmond Rosen and Rev. Ben Twumasi; the Director of the Sasana Ramsi Myanmar Buddhist Trust, Dr May Erskine; and Father Dermot O’Neill, from the Roman Catholic Parish of North Finchley.
Holocaust Memorial Day display from the children of the WPS Community
The guest speaker was survivor, Mrs Mala Tribich MBE, who spoke movingly of her years in the Piotrków ghetto and the Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. Theresa Villiers and Alison Moore both spoke and emphasised the importance of remembering the Holocaust and of understanding the circumstances that had led up to it, so that mankind should never again suffer a genocide. Twelve-year-old Talia Shoham spoke on twinning her Bat Mitzvah last year under the Yad Vashem programme with Talia Borenshtein, who had perished in the Holocaust aged 6. Six memorial candles were lit in memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust by the 5th North Finchley Guides and the 20th Finchley Scouts. The service concluded with an address by Senior Rabbi Pinchas Hackenbroch, who asked whether the Polish railway signalman, who was only doing his job when he gave the trains carrying Jews to Auschwitz a green signal, bore any responsibility for their subsequent deaths. Should he have changed the signal to red? He concluded that the lesson to be learned is that it was not only the individual who poured the Zyklon into the gas chamber who was guilty of genocide, but that that guilt must be shared by each and every individual who performed each single but vital step that had enabled and led to the final solution.
Following the conclusion of the Dedication, a lovely Tea, generously donated by the Ladies@WPS was greatly enjoyed.
Service of Dedication of The Woodside Park Synagogue
Holocaust Memorial Sunday 22 January 2023
 WPS Holocaust Memorial - looking down from above |  WPS Holocaust Memorial - The Base |  WPS Holocaust Memorial |
|---|---|---|
 The Donors of the WPS Holocaust Memorial |  Welcome by Steven Woolf Chairman of WPS |  Psalm 23 read by Rev Ben Twumasi and Dr May Erskine BMFF |
 Psalm 23 read by Rev Ben Twumasi and Dr May Erskine BMFF |  Address by Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP |  Address by Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP |
 Guest Speaker Mala Tribich MBE |  Guest Speaker Mala Tribich MBE |  Lighting of the 6 Memorial Candles by 5th North Finchley Guides and 20th North Finchley |
 Lighting of the 6 Memorial Candles by 5th North Finchley Guides and 20th North Finchley |  Lighting of the 6 Memorial Candles by 5th North Finchley Guides and 20th North Finchley |  Lighting of the 6 Memorial Candles by 5th North Finchley Guides and 20th North Finchley |
 Lighting of the 6 Memorial Candles by 5th North Finchley Guides and 20th North Finchley |  Lighting of the 6 Memorial Candles by 5th North Finchley Guides and 20th North Finchley |  Lighting of the 6 Memorial Candles by 5th North Finchley Guides and 20th North Finchley |
 Talia Shoham on twinning her Bat Mitzvah with Talia Borenshtein who perished aged 6 |  Talia Shoham on twinning her Bat Mitzvah with Talia Borenshtein who perished aged 6 |  Memorial Prayer by Cantor Stephen Robins ARCM |
 Memorial Prayer by Cantor Stephen Robins ARCM |  Memorial Prayer Read by Sasha Jaden Lask |  Memorial Prayer Read by Sasha Jaden Lask |
 Reading of the Four Dedication Plaques by Colin Edelman KC |  Reading of the Four Dedication Plaques by Colin Edelman KC |  Presentation to Sculpture Susannah Simmons by Colin Edelman KC |
 Address by the Worshipful Mayor of Barnet Cllr Alison Moore |  Address by the Worshipful Mayor of Barnet Cllr Alison Moore |  Address by Senior Rabbi Pinchas Hackenbroch |
 Address by Senior Rabbi Pinchas Hackenbroch |  Adon Olam sung by Cantor Stephen Robins ARCM |  Adon Olam sung by Cantor Stephen Robins ARCM |
 Alan Tunkel |  The Memorial Dedication of the Holocaust Memorial Woodside Park Synagogue 22 January 20 |  6 Memorial Candles in memory of the 6 million Jewish victims of the holocaust lit by 5th North Finchley Guides and 20th North Finchley |
 Rabbi Hackenbroch and Mala Tribich MBE Dedication of the Holocaust memorial Woodside Pa |
Service of Dedication of The Woodside Park Synagogue Holocaust Memorial
Sunday 22 January 2023
The guest speaker was Holocaust survivor, Mrs Mala Tribich MBE, who spoke movingly of her years in the Piotrków ghetto and the Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps.
A video of her talk can be viewed below along with other videos of speakers from Dedication Service
Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) (27 January) is a national commemoration day in the United Kingdom dedicated to the remembrance of those who suffered in The Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution, and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
It was first held in January 2001 and has been on the same date every year since. The chosen date is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp by the Soviet Union in 1945, the date also chosen for the International Holocaust Remembrance Day and some other national Holocaust Memorial Days.
In addition to the national event, there are numerous smaller memorial events around the country organised by many different organisations, groups and individuals.
Each year, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (the charity responsible for the annual national commemmoration of Holocaust Memorial Day) announces a theme for HMD which provides a focal point and a shared message for the hundreds of events which take place around the UK.
This year the theme is "How can life go on?".
The Holocaust and subsequent genocides took place because the local populations allowed insidious persecution to take root. Whilst some actively supported or facilitated state policies of persecution, the vast majority stood by silently – at best, afraid to speak out; at worst, indifferent. Bystanders enabled the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and subsequent genocides.
Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel has written powerfully about the impact of bystanders:
I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
For more information please go to the