Caerphilly County Borough dignitaries, residents and schoolchildren came together yesterday, January 27, to remember the victims of the Holocaust, 70 years after the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops.
At Blackwood Miners’ Institute Deputy Mayor, Leon Gardiner lit a candle to remember the estimated six million victims of the Holocaust.
The majority of the Nazi’s victims were Jews and they also annihilated people with disabilities, catholic priests, homosexuals, socialists and communists in the death camps.
Pupils from Newbridge School wrote poems about the slaughter, that are being displayed alongside art by Lewis School Pengam students depicting the horror of the genocides in Rwanda and Cambodia.
Twelve-year-old Sam Baskerville read a moving poem he wrote (read below) to the silent crowd at the memorial, while Newbridge deputy head girls Menna Morgan, Paige Lowe and Ffion Hale, all 15, made readings.
Headteacher Mrs L Perry said the school commemorates Holocaust Memorial Day every year and take 14 to 16-year-olds to visit Auschwitz every two years.
Mrs Perry said: “It’s immeasurable for them at that age. It’s so important that we do remember and show respect for life, liberty and equality, which is a vital part of our school.”
Vice Chairman of Newbridge School Governors, Melanie Dean, said: “It’s an excellent display, moving and very poignant.
“The children are very informed of the horrors of the Holocaust.”
The Deputy Mayor promised to fund a book of the poems so they are not lost after the display at the institute finishes on February 1.
The council’s deputy leader Barbara Jones also spoke at the memorial.
Cllr Jones said: “It’s really important that we should never, ever forget.
“I’m pleased that Caerphilly has been able to hold this event and it was lovely to see the children read their poetry.”
The End is Too Late
My home burnt down to nothing but ash
I was thrown around as if where trash
My life, my family, stolen away
Why did I have to live another day?
Marched down a long broken street
Those evil men made sure I was beat
The ghetto so dirty it poisons the air
It just isn’t right, it just isn’t fair
The star that lay upon my coat
The hunger running down my throat
The train with more dents than a shield
The man in the front trying to get me to yield
The secret camp which is no way hid
All that can be heard are screaming kids
The tear running down my skin
My hope and love then became thin
This camp was never fair to twins
Their organs cut and thrown in to bins
I soon fell very, very ill
And down my spine I could feel a chill
The tests ranged from poison and dyes
Which made you feel lucky to see the sky
The war still raging there is no hope for me
But when I am dead my soul shall be free
Cold and covered in horrid lice
The feelings I have are not at all nice
My friend says the war will be over, that’s great
I am next and the end is too late
Sam Baskerville
Year 8
Newbridge School