News / history
Holocaust Memorial Day: Bridging generations
More than 100 people gathered in City Hall on Tuesday to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.
The day of remembrance has been observed nationally since 2001, commemorating the lives of more than six million Jewish people, Disabled people, LGBTQ+ individuals and minority groups that were lost to the Holocaust.
This year, the day of remembrance was themed ‘Bridging Generations’, discussing how “the impact of conflict does not end with those who experience it directly”.
Oren Adani, the chair of the Bristol Holocaust Memorial Day organisation, told Bristol24/7: “As time goes on, we are sadly losing those who can share their experiences first-hand.
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“But it’s important to talk about how their legacies and stories continue and impact us all.”
This year’s keynote speaker was Eric Schloss: the grandson of Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss, who died in January.
Eva, the posthumous stepsister of Anne Frank and co-founder of The Anne Frank Trust UK, grew up in Austria before fleeing to Amsterdam.
Schloss shared his grandmother’s story and video clips of the survivor, detailing her time spent in Auschwitz-Birkenau and learning how to exist after the war.
Eva’s father and brother, Erich and Heinz Geiringer, documented their time in hiding in a series of paintings and poems – photo: The Schloss family
Speaking to Bristol24/7, Schloss said that : “My grandmother was very active in speaking about her experiences and I was very close with her.
“I feel a sense of duty to tell her story, to humanise this horrific period in history and to be able to share the lessons from it.”
The event also hosted psychotherapists Judi Bauernfreund and Katherine Cox, who discussed ‘intergenerational trauma’ and how the Holocaust can continue to shape people’s lives.
Bauernfreund, who specialises in researching second and third generation Holocaust trauma, said that memorial events and conversations about the implications of the Holocaust are essential.
“The most powerful healing force,” she said, “is being witnessed”.
Main photo: Susie Long
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