‘We will not forget past horror’

A rabbi has said “voices are being raised more and more” to warn that the horrors behind the Holocaust must never be repeated.
By The Newsroom
Published 29th Apr 2019, 09:06 BST
Updated 29th Apr 2019, 09:08 BST
PACEMAKER BELFAST 28/04/2019 The March of Life on Sunday 28th of April that paraded through Belfast city centre and ended at Belfast City Hall. The 1 st - 2 nd of May is Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorated by Jewish communities worldwide. The March of Life is an initiative by Jobst and Charlotte Bittner and TOS Ministries from Txbingen, Germany. Together with descendants of German Wehrmacht soldiers and the descendants of Nazi SS members, they have organized memorial and reconciliation marches at sites of the Holocaust all over Europe. Photo Arthur Allison/Pacemaker PressPACEMAKER BELFAST 28/04/2019 The March of Life on Sunday 28th of April that paraded through Belfast city centre and ended at Belfast City Hall. The 1 st - 2 nd of May is Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorated by Jewish communities worldwide. The March of Life is an initiative by Jobst and Charlotte Bittner and TOS Ministries from Txbingen, Germany. Together with descendants of German Wehrmacht soldiers and the descendants of Nazi SS members, they have organized memorial and reconciliation marches at sites of the Holocaust all over Europe. Photo Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press
PACEMAKER BELFAST 28/04/2019 The March of Life on Sunday 28th of April that paraded through Belfast city centre and ended at Belfast City Hall. The 1 st - 2 nd of May is Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorated by Jewish communities worldwide. The March of Life is an initiative by Jobst and Charlotte Bittner and TOS Ministries from Txbingen, Germany. Together with descendants of German Wehrmacht soldiers and the descendants of Nazi SS members, they have organized memorial and reconciliation marches at sites of the Holocaust all over Europe. Photo Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press

David Singer was speaking as a demonstration took place in Belfast yesterday in the run up to Holocaust Remembrance Day, marked by Jewish people worldwide on May 1-2.

Called the ‘March of Life’, the procession was one of many which have taken place across the globe.

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The organisers said that since it began in 2007, marches have been held in 20 nations and in more than 350 cities, and yesterday’s Belfast demonstration is the fourth year running that the Province’s Jewish and Christian communities have taken part.

In a statement released shortly before yesterday’s gathering, rabbi Singer (the former rabbi of Belfast and NI) said: “The lessons of the tragic past are being learnt slowly but surely. Momentum is gathering to remember those six million who perished in the Holocaust.

“Voices are being raised more and more and in many places around the world so that the past mistakes will not be repeated. As the survivors grow older, frailer and fewer we are making a mark to say: We remember, we will honour, we will not forget and we will do all in our power to prevent a recurrence.”

Steven Jaffe, co-chair of Northern Ireland Friends of Israel, said it is especially important “at a time when Jewish people at home and abroad face ever-increasing hate”.

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March co-ordinator Mike McNally said the event was about saying “never again”, and about making “a public declaration against modern day anti-Semitism” – a sentiment echoed by DUP councillor Peter Martin, who likewise said “anti-Semitism is on the rise, primarily now from those on the far left”.

The small gathering of attendees yesterday set off from the Jaffe fountain in Belfast at 3pm, en route to City Hall.

Related topics:BelfastProvince