Your Swindon
Get involved: send your photos, videos, news & views by texting 'SWINDON NEWS' to 80360 or email »
|
|
|
|
|
|
Got a story? EMAIL US, call us on 01793 501806 or text us at 80360, starting your message
with 'SWINDON NEWS'
Town pays respects to holocaust victims
8:17pm Sunday 27th January 2008
A HUSH fell around Swindon's war memorial as people paid their respects to the victims of the Holocaust.
As the clock struck noon on Sunday dozens of people gathered around the war memorial to remember genocides throughout the world and to see a wreath laid in their memory.
Swindon Scratch Choir gave a moving accappella performance before organiser Matt Holland spoke.
"We have come here to the cenotaph, our town's place of remembrance to commemorate and remember with respect, love and as much understanding as we can manage," he said.
"We remember the women, children and men of all races and nationalities who have suffered and been persecuted in genocides.
"Not only in the Holocaust of the 1940s but other genocides around the world."
Mr Holland said Swindon had a proud history of supporting Holocaust Memorial Day since it was launched on January 27, 2001 to mark the liberation of notorious Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the United Nations convention on genocide, and 65 years since the definition of genocide was made.
As he read out the words of Martin Niemoller's poem First they came for the communists,' people in the crowd nodded their heads solemnly.
"It should not have happened and it must not happen again," said Mr Holland. "It is an honour for us to mark our respect like this. It is a small, but nevertheless significant thing we have done."
During the 20-minute ceremony Swindon Mayor Michael Barnes said Swindon was lucky to have such a diverse community, before laying the wreath.
"The borough is made up of a diverse community, which thankfully do co-exist in peace and harmony," he said.
"We are reflecting on human rights' tragedies past and present and need everyone's help to build caring, inclusive communities."
The theme of this year's Holocaust Memorial Day was Imagine - remember, reflect, react.
After the ceremony those gathered were invited back to the Friends Meeting House in Eastcott Hill for readings and reflections from members of all of the town's faiths.
Your Say YourSwindon
yeti, swindon says...
10:07pm Sun 27 Jan 08
and isn't it about time we drew a line under all this war stuff?
our country is as guilty as any other.
and dont bother with saying i'm not patriotic etc.may grandads fought in ww2 and my dad was in the army!
Tobz, says...
10:11pm Sun 27 Jan 08
cfa, newcastle says...
10:49pm Sun 27 Jan 08
Ditto.
yeti, swindon says...
11:31pm Sun 27 Jan 08
my point was made.what is yours?
i aint a troll.i gave an opinion on the article.you aint.so i'd say the two above are trolls
cfa, newcastle says...
11:57pm Sun 27 Jan 08
It wasn't critsm (sic) of you. I just don't want to engange (sic) with you on this matter.
Tony Hillier, Old Walcot says...
12:05am Mon 28 Jan 08
It's of course much wider than war-it's in my view about the often small actions we take (or do not take) each day with each other.
I hand my nightjob over to Poet Yeats who wrote :
He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
cheers
Tony
BWB, SWINDON says...
8:07am Mon 28 Jan 08
forget whats been done
and concentrate on whats to come.
IRAN next stop,If war mongers get their way .
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
8:15am Mon 28 Jan 08
Tony Hillier, Old Walcot says...
8:30am Mon 28 Jan 08
and dont bother with saying i'm not patriotic etc.may grandads fought in ww2 and my dad was in the army!
My father was also in WW2 - D Day -as many many readers' family members were. Isuggestthat ifapoll ofthose families were done that most would before "jaw,jaw" before "war, war".
However, "Don't mention the War!" ...
There here and now, the Swindon we have, changes are needed as most Adver Bloggers need to say (including me)
..but the challenge remains...
are we to remain the "chattering classes" or are we actually going to negotiate and work to to make some changes ?
(Are you listening to yourself Tony?) <mustbe my morning soapbox rant> except that I believe I believe it - oops I sound like Tony Blair)
There is a poem that fits here but I'll spare us all...
Tony
BWB, SWINDON says...
8:39am Mon 28 Jan 08
What was that all about?.
It made no sense at all.
And Robert,there will always be wars.
It Is a form of Human culling.
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
8:43am Mon 28 Jan 08
doug@homefarm, SN1 says...
9:51am Mon 28 Jan 08
BWB, SWINDON says...
10:21am Mon 28 Jan 08
The END IS NIGH.
The kids of today are our future,and they could not give a Toss
about days gone by,or their own future.
They live for today.
Big Mac, says...
11:32am Mon 28 Jan 08
If you are not seen to publically self-flagellate yourself for the Holocaust (even though it had nothing to do with you and was completely outside of your control) you 'must' be an evil Nazi.
If you dare mention anything remotely negative about Muslims you 'must' be an evil Islamophobe.
If you consider straight people to be 'normal' then you're an evil Homophobe.
There is no debate. There is no room for an opposing view. These subjects have been effectively shut down. Merely discussing it will lead people to consider you 'evil'.
Of course the Holocaust, and WWII in its entirety, was appalling beyond comprehension... but I do think it's a valid point that what's done is done and is unlikely ever to happen again in that manner - although a world wide religious conflict does seem to be on the horizon.
For once, I partly agree with doug@homefarm's comment above:
but we have to try as one day there will be no future.
I agree that, regardless of what humans do (or don't do), there will come a time when the race is long a part of the planet... however, war is an intrinsic part of human nature - it will continue, in some form or other, until that point is reached.
Polymath, Swindon says...
11:46am Mon 28 Jan 08
I'm in my early 20s and not a "kid". Still relatively young, and this newspaper would probably tag me as "youth" along with all its negative connotations.
However, I really care about the past and the future, as well as today. I constantly learn about history with a passion and hope to use my knowledge of it to shape the future.
This was the same when I was a teenager, so don't make assumptions that all "kids" are into instant gratification.
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
12:08pm Mon 28 Jan 08
adam, Swindon says...
1:35pm Mon 28 Jan 08
I will NEVER forget what he and many others like him, so bravely fought for.
Ill NEVER forget that my Father never met his Father
NEVER also, will I forget the freedom that many of us take for granted.
yeti, swindon says...
1:50pm Mon 28 Jan 08
it was terrible and effected so many people.
i just dont think making a fuss for years after will do any good.
of course we dont want stuff like that happening again. but i dont think remembering what happend will have any effect on future events.
look at the things going on right now all over the world.
i agree that the holocaust it self isn't debateable.i didn't ever say otherwise
adam, Swindon says...
1:57pm Mon 28 Jan 08
yeti wrote:Yeti,
please dont think i'm trying to brush what happend under the carpet. it was terrible and effected so many people. i just dont think making a fuss for years after will do any good. of course we dont want stuff like that happening again. but i dont think remembering what happend will have any effect on future events. look at the things going on right now all over the world. i agree that the holocaust it self isn't debateable.i didn't ever say otherwise
I tend to see the logic in what you are saying to a point However, Im more swayed to the opinion that younger generations should remember what happened as lesions can be learned with regards to what is going on in society today.
Tobz, says...
3:01pm Mon 28 Jan 08
i just dont think making a fuss for years after will do any good.
of course we dont want stuff like that happening again. but i dont think remembering what happend will have any effect on future events
Those that fail to remember the evils of the past are more likely to repeat them in the future. Those who don't honour the sacrifices of their parents and grandparents are without honour themselves: That's completely unaltered by whatever your stance is on the rights or wrongs of that war, this war - or any war.
Big Mac, says...
4:34pm Mon 28 Jan 08
adam wrote:
NEVER also, will I forget the freedom that many of us take for granted.
It seems, unfortunately, as though many people are happy to see it eroded almost daily by the current government.
adam, Swindon says...
4:54pm Mon 28 Jan 08
It seems that as time goes on and we forget, we loose all the fabrics that made held together what was great about being British.
Big Mac, says...
5:17pm Mon 28 Jan 08
adam wrote:
It seems that as time goes on and we forget, we loose all the fabrics that made held together what was great about being British.
Times have changed adam. In the years directly after the war the level of immigration to the UK was virtually zero.
It was only after WWII when the failed social experiment of the modern Welfare State took off that we needed plentiful cheap labour and opened our borders.
Since then, of course, we've all witnessed the disastrous results. To the point where it's now meaningless to even discuss the concept of 'Britishness'.
Whatever it once may have been, it's now lost forever.
It is sad and damning indictment that those who ushered in their twisted vision of the Welfare State did so at a time when the country was, literally, shellshocked and in a time where nobody was able to take decisions with a clear mind.
We are suffering the consquences to this day... and will no doubt continue to do so for the rest of our lifetimes.
steve-o, Swindon says...
5:55pm Mon 28 Jan 08
Yeti you should be ashamed of your self! What forgive and forget! Your be saying forgive next. NEVER!!
Big Mac, says...
6:36pm Mon 28 Jan 08
Don't try and imply that they are.
steve-o, Swindon says...
6:40pm Mon 28 Jan 08
Big Mac wrote:Seemed that way to me,put us to one side again mate.
steve-o, not that I actually can discern much from your post, but nobody on this thread is making any political points whatsoever about the Jewish people or what they've endured. Don't try and imply that they are.
Big Mac, says...
6:59pm Mon 28 Jan 08
Seemed that way to me,put us to one side again mate.
What on earth are you talking about?
Robin Harris, Swindon says...
12:10am Tue 29 Jan 08
yeti, swindon says...
2:28am Tue 29 Jan 08
steve-o wrote:obviously you missed my point. then attempt to put words in my mouth too.
big Mac , Adam . Dont you dare use this subject for your politcal crap, Our people are the most abused in alive peoples lifetimes, Remember. Yeti you should be ashamed of your self! What forgive and forget! Your be saying forgive next. NEVER!!
thanks for that...
adam, Swindon says...
11:43am Tue 29 Jan 08
Please read my posts again.
Fool!
Your sayYourSwindon
Add your comment
Register for a FREE Swindon Advertiser account and you can have your say on today's news and sport by adding comments on articles we publish. The best comments may even get published in the paper.
Please register now or sign in below to continue.
Mayor Michael Barnes lays a wreath
In this section
- Ex-pal burgled in camper van revenge attack
- Students help build for the future in the Gambia
- Swindon parishes bid to adopt red phone boxes
- Malmesbury could become a ghost town
- Harpist joins choir
- Lapland theme park closes
- Council plots to be auctioned off
- Pupils inspired by teen trader
- 'Give a gift' helps Santa
- Council reshuffle on the cards
Sponsored Links
Remember When...
We want memories of old fire engine
The fire engine is back from the National Railway Museum – soon it will be looking pristine once more at Steam, where work preparing it for exhibition to the public before Christmas has begun.
Tale of forbidden love at Lower Shaw Farm
Storytelling is an integral part of both summer and winter events at Lower Shaw Farm.
100 years of Highworth
THE celebrations for the end of the First World War in Highworth are fondly remembered by 100-year-old Queenie Cull.
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
Tony Hillier, Old Walcot says...
8:41pm Sun 27 Jan 08
of all faiths and none
we paused for thought
remembering innocent victims
ignorant and knowing perpetrators
reflected on micro and macro
regime changes today
ready to choose to react
imagining an improved world
becoming reality
Tony Hillier, one of Swindons many community poets