Shropshire commemorates the Holocaust and other genocides
Two cherry trees were planted by schoolpupils in Bridgnorth on Friday 27 January 2023, to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, the first at St Leonard’s CE Primary School and the second at St John’s Catholic Primary School.
Members of the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum and the Shrewsbury Interfaith Forum took part in special assemblies with Kirstie Hurst-Knight and Christian Lea, two local Shropshire Councillors in whose division the schools are located, before planting the trees. This brings to 16 the number of such trees now growing across Shropshire.
Holocaust Memorial Day 27 January 2023 – main group tree planting at St John’s
Cecilia Motley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for adult social care, public health and communities, said:-
“I was delighted to hear from the local councillors that the children at St John’s and St Leonard’s all listened so intently to the representatives from the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum and Shrewsbury Interfaith Forum speaking in their assemblies dedicated to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day, with the theme this year being Ordinary People.
“These children will I am sure take these messages of kindness and hope with them as they grow up. It is my own hope that they will stand up against anti-Semitism, racism and any other forms of discrimination, wherever they may encounter it, and that the trees will serve as a reminder to them of the importance of kind thoughts and actions.”
Holocaust Memorial Day 27 January 2023 – tree planting by Interfaith Forums at St Leonard’s
Peter Vousden of Shrewsbury Interfaith Forum read a special prayer in the assemblies, and said:-
“I found the day very uplifting: it is really important to continue with this work with schoolpupils across Shropshire.”
Mark Michaels of South Shropshire Interfaith Forum shared the memories he keeps alive of individual people who died in the Holocaust and at Srebrenica in Bosnia, as well as his special badges showing the Holocaust Memorial Day candle, the Srebrenica Flower, and the Ukraine flag. Imam Sohayb Peerbhai read a poem in the assemblies, before the lighting of a prayer candle at each school. The representatives of the forums then joined with the councillors and children from the school in the tree-planting ceremonies.
After the planting of each tree a short prayer was said promising to look after the tree by each school community.
Christian Lea, a Shropshire Councillor for Bridgnorth East and Astley Abbotts, said:-
“Kirstie and myself will take a keen personal interest in watching the trees grow in the care of the children at these schools. With these trees having been planted in a prominent location at each school, they will act as a daily reminder to the children as to how important it is to ensure that the Holocaust and the other genocides are never forgotten. The message given has very much been about promoting cohesion, tolerance and respect of all individuals, and across faiths.”
Holocaust Memorial Day 27 January 2023 – main group tree planting at St John’s
A special thank you goes to the following children from the Faith Council at St John’s and from the Worship Council at St Leonard’s, as well as three who helped in assembly at the latter:-
St Leonard’s: Avalon, Erin, Finley, George, Georgia, Holly, Isabella, Jamie, Rosie, Tilly, Tommy.
St John’s: Bonnie, Elijah, Finley, Florence, Hallie, Isaac, Rory, Sophia, Toby.
Holocaust Memorial Day 27 January 2023 – tree planting main group at St Leonard’s
Imam Sohayb Peerbhai, for the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum, said:-
“I think the cherry tree planting went really well in both schools. Turning to the event held in Church Stretton on Sunday 29 January, this was a moving and sombre event with participation in readings, poems and prayers from all faiths. There were small group discussions about two important questions: can we stay ordinary in a crisis; and how do we keep the memories of the Holocaust alive in future generations? The evening ended with a short prayer and candle lighting, and humble refreshments.”
Holocaust Memorial Day 27 January 2023 – Imam Sohayb Peerbhai, for the South Shropshire Interfaith Forum, at the assembly at St Leonard’s
The council will be continuing to keep the memories of the Holocaust and other genocides alive, principally through the nurture of the cherry tree orchard, the sharing of resources with the public through the libraries service and Shropshire Archives, and through the marking of Remembering Srebrenica Day on Tuesday 11 July 2023 with a ceremony at the special tree planted outside Shirehall in Shrewsbury.
Further information
Holocaust Memorial Day takes place on 27 January each year and is a time to remember the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution and in the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
Kirstie Hurst-Knight, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for children and education, said before this year’s ceremonies that:-
“In making the decision as a council on location of cherry trees for 2023, we have been guided by wishing to take further positive action here in Bridgnorth, following a distressing incident of anti-Semitic graffiti found in a public green space area of Bridgnorth town centre in November 2022.
Myself and other Bridgnorth councillors were appalled, and also very conscious that local primary schoolpupils may have come across this graffiti before it was spotted and removed, and not been fully aware that it is a hate crime, and the reasons why it is so abhorrent.
“We will be highlighting that the graffiti could have come from people passing through the area rather than people in the local population, a point that we made in our Newsroom story at the time. This is more about raising awareness that such incidents may occur anywhere, and will never be tolerated.”
As well as sourcing the trees through kind support from our arboriculturist team here, John Blessington from the team is helping with practicalities including guidance on looking after the trees as they grow alongside the children of the schools involved.
They are Black Oliver flowering cherries, a variety native to the West Midlands, chosen to link in with the importance of fruiting trees in Judaism, Islam and Christianity, and to illustrate our wish to show welcome for different faiths within our local area.
