Holocaust Memorial Day – Tuesday 29 January at 7.15pm – on campus

FORCED as a child to flee Nazi persecution, Trude Silman found safety, a family life and a career in Britain – but her parents were left behind in occupied Europe and perished during Hitler’s attempt to exterminate the Jews.  Now, 80 years later, she is the guest speaker at an annual Huddersfield event that aims to ensure the horrors and lessons of the Holocaust are not forgotten.

The town’s University is home to the Holocaust Exhibition and Learning Centre, opened during 2018 and developed in association with the Leeds-based Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association.  Trude – a former scientist – is a life president of the organisation and her story is one of those featured at the exhibition.

Now, on Tuesday 29 January, she contributes to the annual Holocaust Memorial Day when she is guest speaker at an event taking place (7.15pm) in the University’s Oastler Building.  After Trude has told of her experiences as a Jewish child in 1930s Czechoslovakia, her 1939 journey to England and post-war efforts to discover the fate of her parents, there will also be contributions from victims of more recent genocides and conflicts who have found refuge in West Yorkshire, with poetry readings and music.

Organised in tandem with the charitable trust named 6million+, the 2019 Holocaust Memorial Day in Huddersfield is titled Torn from Home.  It begins at 6.15pm with a procession from the Commercial Hotel to the University campus.

Named Procession of the Weeping Sisters, it includes large figures reflecting the grief of women for the events of the Holocaust and other genocides.  This year, it will include a Burundian figure, marking the 25th anniversary of genocide in that African country.

Then the candlelit commemorative event at the University – including Trude Silman’s contribution – takes place at 7.15pm.  Entry is free.

• Trude Silman’s full story can be read online.