News Holocaust Memorial Day: Bridging Generations 28.01.2026

On Tuesday 27 January, the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the school came together to mark Holocaust Memorial Day and to remember the six million Jews, and millions of others, murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust, as well as other victims of genocides and persecutions around the globe. There were two assemblies led by Lower Sixth students that were tailored to different year-groups.

Eden, Lower Sixth, led the Middle School and Sixth Form assembly which she recounts as follows:

‘Whilst the primary focus of the assembly was to remember the victims of the Holocaust, I used the testimonials of both British Holocaust survivor Alfred Garwood and the story of my own grandfather who fled Latvia during the Second World War to highlight the continued resilience of the survivors who continue to share their stories with us today. Responding to this year’s theme designated by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, Bridging Generations, I spoke about how education programmes implemented in the UK, such as Britain’s Promise to Remember and the Lessons from Auschwitz project, have promoted Holocaust remembrance amongst students. This is particularly important at a time when Holocaust denial and antisemitism is on the rise and there are fewer and fewer remaining Holocaust survivors to tell their story. The moment’s silence at the end of the assembly commemorated not only the loss of the 11,000,000 killed during the Holocaust but the victims of genocides globally, such as the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.’

Meanwhile, Lola, Lower Sixth, led our Lower School assembly with more of an emphasis on the historical context of the Holocaust, the importance of standing up to antisemitism, as well as asking the Year 7, 8 and 9 pupils to take a moment to remember the victims of the persecutions in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. Lola explains:

‘As this year’s theme was Bridging Generations, I highlighted the importance of keeping alive the memory of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. To do this, I shared my own family story explaining how my great-grandmother, Ilse Kaufmann, was forced on a long journey, escaping to Argentina from Moravia (now the Czech Republic) to flee Nazi persecution. I also explored another survivor testimony, Yisrael Abelesz, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and survived. He later moved to the UK and became an active part of the Jewish community and a key player in restoring Jewish culture in Hungary.’

Many thanks indeed to Eden and Lola who both led extremely poignant and informative assemblies, made even more moving by their own family stories and experiences.