Holocaust survivors and ex-servicemen pay tribute at Bergen Belsen
UK delegation including Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner mark 80th anniversary of concentration camp liberation
The deputy minister joined community leaders and survivors at the Bergen-Belsen memorial in Germany yesterday for the official ceremony marking 80 years since the camp’s liberation by British forces.
Led by AJEX The Jewish Military Association, a plane was charted to carry the 180-strong delegation from the UK, included survivors Mala Tribich, Susan Pollack, Peter Lantos and Alfred Garwood, descendants of liberators and survivors, cadets, veterans, Jewish serving personnel, government officials and community leaders.
The delegation took part in the international commemorations where Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner MP spoke and laid a wreath with Defence Minister Lord Coaker.
They were assisted by cadets from the JFS / JCoSS combined cadet force and the North London and Middlesex army cadets.
A wreath was also laid by AJEX veterans Ron Shelley and Ivan Sugarman with the salute from Dan Fox, AJEX national chair.
There followed a ceremony at the Jewish memorial with the Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, Rabbi Reuben Livingstone and music from the Shabbaton Choir.
Wreaths were laid by Angela Rayner MP, Rachel Riley and Lt Col Simon Soskin.
Dan Fox, AJEX National Chair said: “Nothing could have prepared the men of the 11th Armoured Division for what they confronted as they entered Bergen-Belsen on 15th April 1945.
“Within its confines, they came face-to-face with the last belt of Hitler’s genocidal conveyor. That day, British soldiers turned destruction into the beginning of repair and nightmares into the start of hope. We honour them all today: liberators, survivors and those who lost their lives”.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, said: “While the atrocities committed at Bergen Belsen represent the worst of humanity, in its survivors and liberators, we see the very best of courage, perseverance and hope.
“It was an honour to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation amongst so many inspiring people including Holocaust survivors, ex-servicemen and descendants of the many Jewish people who killed. We must honour the memory of Bergen Belsen and the stories of its survivors as we fulfil our unwavering commitment to maintain the values of freedom, peace and respect.”
Fiona Palmer, AJEX chief executive, said: “Today has been immensely emotional. Standing together we have honoured the victims of the Holocaust, the survivors and the liberators. We have reaffirmed our collective duty to fight hate wherever we encounter it and to never forget The Holocaust.”
Tens of thousands of people, mostly Jews, including diarist Anne Frank and her sister Margot, were murdered or died at Bergen Belsen.
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