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The victims of the Holocaust and other acts of genocide will be remembered in Guernsey today, with a service at the White Rock starting at 12:00.
Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Memorial Day - is a moving date that falls in either April or May each year in the Jewish calendar.
It is Israel's day of commemoration for the millions of Jews murdered by Nazi Germany and its collaborators and the Jewish resistance during that time and is separate to Holocaust Memorial day which is marked annually on 27 January in the UK.
Led by the Very Reverend Tim Barker, the gathering will provide a time to honour the memories of the victims of the Holocaust and other acts of genocide, with prayers said for the three Jewish women deported from Guernsey during the Occupation, the Guernsey Eight - who were also deported from the island during the war - and the foreign workers who were brought to the Bailiwick by the Occupying Forces.
The Dean said the "annual observance of Holocaust Memorial Day is important for the whole community".
Pictured: The Dean of Guernsey will lead the service at the White Rock on Tuesday 18 April, Yom HaShoah 2023.
The way the many millions of victims are remembered has changed in recent years, after the covid pandemic forced the January service to be cancelled in 2021.
"In discussion with members of Guernsey's Jewish community and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, we have established an annual sequence of commemoration that will include a public gathering at midday on White Rock on Tuesday 18 April, coinciding with the date in 2023 when Jewish people throughout the world keep Yom HaShoah," explained Reverend Barker.
Darren Vogel told Express that the horrors of the Holocaust can not be forgotten, when acts of genocide continue across the world.
"The horrific atrocities in Ukraine today are a reminder how conflicts can escalate beyond all comprehension very rapidly. People have been forced to flee or cower in fear in their homes in regions that had previously been considered modern and relatively civilised and safe," he said.
Pictured: The victims of the Holocaust are remembered on 27 January and Yom HaShoah each year.
The commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day and remembrance of Guernsey victims in the last two years focussed on Yom HaShoah in April due to the covid enforced restrictions.
That change in focus led to discussions around education and commemoration of the Holocaust, with consideration given to how Holocaust Memorial aligns locally with communities around the British Isles, and across Europe, on both 27 January (when Holocaust Memorial day is marked in the UK) and Yom HaShoah.
With the weather in April and May likely to be better meaning a larger gathering could be reasonably excepted at the White Rock - where a plaque commemorates the lost lives of Marianne Grunfeld, Therese Steiner and Auguste Spitz - the decision was made to continue to mark Yom HaShoah whether it falls in either month.
Pictured: The plaque on the White Rock which honours the three Jewish women deported from Guernsey to an unknown - but fatal - destination during the Occupation.
Mr Vogel said it is vitally important the local connections with the Holocaust are not forgotten.
"Less than one hundred years ago Guernsey was under occupation. Individuals who lived less than a few hundred meters from where most people are reading this article today were forcibly removed from the Bailiwick and transported to death camps from their homes via St Peter Port Harbour. It's a horrendous and significant difference to the UK that, fortunately, was spared occupation, the horror of slave camps and other awful consequences of Nazi occupation itself. This difference is why we have different memorials and reasons to remember on this day here in the Bailiwick.
"We remember all the Bailiwick victims at the memorials every year at Yom HaShoah. We are also reminded how important it is, and how lucky we are, to be living in a time of tolerance, in a welcoming, friendly, understanding island. How lucky we are to enjoy a diversity of beautifully imperfect people, opinions and politics here in Guernsey."
Pictured: Alderney was used as a base for thousands of slave workers during the Second World War with the fate of many still not known.
With recognition of the importance of the 27 January as Holocaust Memorial day in the UK, an inter-faith gathering will continue to be held at the Town Church on this date, annually.
Bailiwick schools will also be given additional support from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust to enable educational resources to be shared with students between Holocaust Memorial Day and Liberation Day in future years.
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