Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, read out a special commemorative poem, by an Auschwitz survivor, at Rochford District Council’s service, to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day (which falls each year on 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of the camp by allied forces in WW2).
During the service, which was also attended by the Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Jennifer Tolhurst, Mark read out a poem called “Never Shall I Forget” which was written by a fifteen-year-old Jewish boy named Ellie Wiesel, who was sent to Auschwitz from his family home in Transylvania, but who survived to tell the tale.
The service held upstairs at the Mill Hall, in the heart of Rayleigh, also heard an address from Andrew White, whose Jewish mother, Lucy White, survived two Nazi death camps, before being liberated by the British Army, towards the end of the Second World War.
Speaking about the service, Mark said:
“Ellie Wiesel’s poem is very moving, so it was a privilege to be asked to read it out. I would like to commend Rochford District Council for commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day with such a fitting and respectful service.”
