More than 200 local people gathered on Wednesday (28 January) at Brent Civic Centre for Brent Council’s commemorative Holocaust Memorial Day event to remember the six million jews and other victims murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust, and also the victims of other genocides which took their inspiration from it in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Rwanda and Darfur.
Representatives from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, Holocaust Educational Trust Youth Ambassadors, Councillors, the Mayor of Brent and interfaith leaders from across the borough were also in attendance, reflecting Brent’s strong commitment to unity and collective remembrance.
It was important to host this event in Brent. We are a borough that prides itself on diversity and inclusion and are home to the largest Jewish school in Western Europe.
This year’s national theme, ‘bridging generations’, highlighted the importance of preserving the memory of the Holocaust through the intergenerational sharing of stories from those who survived and those who inherited their stories.
Keynote speaker John Hajdu MBE, a Hungarian‑born Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, shared his powerful testimony. Having lived through both the Nazi occupation and the subsequent communist regime in Budapest, Hajdu spoke about his journey from seeking refuge in the UK to becoming a magistrate, an adviser to the Metropolitan Police, and Chairman of his residents’ association for the past 16 years.
Mr Hajdu said: “Who would have thought I would be here talking to you nearly seventy years after surviving the Nazi terror, the Russian regime, and escaping from Hungary, to tell you that through lots of hard work, drive, determination and optimism, I did it, I succeeded.”
The audience also heard from Antoinette Mutabazi, a child survivor of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. She shared a moving account of her experience enduring the harrowing 100‑day period of violence. Since seeking asylum in the UK, Mutabazi has dedicated her life to raising awareness of refugee experiences and has served as a missionary with the charity Youth With A Mission.
Mutabazi said: “This is our responsibility, regardless of your background, your nationality, your family history, memory is not owned by those who suffered alone, it belongs to us all. Let’s speak up because silence is not bridging generations.”
