Plans announced for Holocaust Memorial Week 2023 at Essex

The remarkable story of how the people of Harwich came together and opened their doors to more than 1,000 young Jewish refugees is set to be explored as part of the University of Essex’s Holocaust Memorial Week.

The Burrows Lecture - hosted by author Mike Levy at the Electric Palace in Harwich - will delve into the tale of Kindertransport and how the port town offered temporary shelter to Jewish children fleeing persecution from the Nazis in 1938.

The free event, taking place at 10.45am on Sunday, January 29, is one of a number lined up for Holocaust Memorial Week.

The week begins with a lantern making workshop, followed by a lantern-lit procession on Wednesday 25 January.

This will see the University community process through our Colchester Campus and pause for a moment of reflection in Square 5.

The Lakeside Theatre will meanwhile be hosting a concert by Don Kipper Quartet on Wednesday 25 January.

It aims to celebrate Eastern European Jewish and Roma music-making, while providing an insight into the traditions within those communities.

Other key events planned include the sombre Reading of Names Ceremony and Holocaust Memorial Service, which both take place on Holocaust Memorial Day (Friday 27 January).

Our University community comes together on Holocaust Memorial Day to remember the victims of the Holocaust and other genocides with the Reading of Names.

The aim is to remember the millions of Jewish people murdered during the Holocaust, alongside other people killed due to Nazi persecution and in other genocides around the world, as a way to work for greater tolerance and inclusion in our society.

A Holocaust Memorial Service will be held later on Holocaust Memorial Day and is based on a Friday evening synagogue service; encouraging people to come together in the spirit of peace and friendship.

Speaking ahead of next week’s launch, Dr Andrew Fagan, co-chair of the Holocaust Memorial Week organising committee, said: “The University of Essex marks Holocaust Memorial Day with a comprehensive programme of events spanning the course of a week.

“We do this to both bear witness to the Holocaust and the many other genocides that have occurred since and to raise public awareness of the continuing human rights violations suffered by some of the most marginalised and vulnerable communities today."

Seats for the Burrows Lecture at the Electric Palace must be reserved in advance.