Sunderland Minster to hold Holocaust Memorial Service

The city’s Inter-faith Forum will host a Holocaust Memorial Service at Sunderland Minster on 6.30pm on Monday.

Attendees will be welcomed by forum co-chairs Rev Chris Howson and Zaf Iqbal and hear from Sunderland University vice-chancellor and Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear Prof Peter Fidler.

The choir from Redby Primary School will perform ‘First They Came’ and ‘Something Inside So Strong’ and the evening will include a series of other readings and tributes to those who have died in other genocides worldwide.

Spokesman Tony Wortman said the forum had decided to host the evening in light of the decline in Sunderland’s Jewish population.

“It is the first time it has been done for quite a number of years,” he said.

“We in the forum felt that, because it is Holocaust Memorial Week, it would be appropriate to do it again.

“There are so few Jews now living in Sunderland to mark the Holocaust, so we decided we would take it upon ourselves to do it.

“I am one of the few members of the Jewish community left living in Sunderland - I have to got to go to Newcastle for a synagogue.”

The forum had invited the primary school to take part as part of a drive to educate children about the reality of the Holocaust.

“We have a primary school choir taking part this year, which is something that has not been done before,” he said.

“It is good for the children to be able to learn about what took place.

“It is about keeping the memory of what happened alive. That is what I have helped to establish this service again.

“This memory needs to be kept alive and I am very grateful to the members of the Inter-faith Forum who have given me every support.”