UCU commemorates Holocaust Memorial Day

The theme for HMD 2014 is Journeys. Prior to World War II, many children made journeys through Europe to escape the Nazis and the growing wave of anti-Semitism. The memories of those who travelled to safety as part of the Kindertransport programme are shared in the film, which also marks the 75^th anniversary of the Kindertransport programme.

Initiated by appeals from British Jewish leaders and non-Jewish agencies to the British Government, the Kindertransport was an organised programme to allow the temporary admission of unaccompanied children up to the age of 17 into the UK prior to the outset of World War II.

The first transports left Berlin on 1 December 1938 and the last left Germany on 1 September 1939. In all, nearly 10,000 mainly Jewish children escaped certain death had they remained in Nazi-occupied Europe.

UCU commemorates HMD in the memory of the millions who were murdered in the Holocaust and subsequent genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, Darfur and Rwanda in order to challenge hatred and persecution in the UK today. Holocaust Memorial Day offers an opportunity for reflection on past atrocities and the chance to come together to create a safer, better future.

Click here for the film and previous commemorations of HMD.