Posted on Tuesday 31st January 2012
Rhondda Cynon Taf Mayor, Cllr Sylvia Jones, attended a Holocaust Memorial Service in Aberdare
Rhondda Cynon Taf Mayor, Cllr Sylvia Jones, attended a Holocaust Memorial Service, held at St John Baptist High School, Aberdare.
It formed part of a week-long series of events at the school to mark its respects to the many men, women and children who lost their lives during one of the darkest periods in modern history.
“It was both humbling and a great honour to be a part of such a poignant week of events at this school,” said Cllr Jones.
“It was such a moving ceremony paying tribute to the millions of people who suffered so much. We must never forget what happened all those years ago.
“We owe it to future generations to never allow such atrocities to ever happen again.”
Joining the Mayor at the service was pupils and staff, school governors, local councillors, members of the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education and Gary Brace, chief executive of the General Teaching Council for Wales.
The events focused on the 2012 Holocaust Memorial Day Trust theme, which was “Speak Up, Speak Out.”
Staff and pupils at St John Baptist High School reflected on their recent study tour to Krakow and Auschwitz, which they undertook to gain a better understanding of the unbelievable suffering of millions of Jews.
While in Krakow, the tour party from Rhondda Cynon Taf met up with Josef Rosotowski, a former political prisoner at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria.
Mr Rosotowski had been held captive there for taking part in the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. He was aged 16 at the time.
But he survived the ordeal and built a new life for himself at the end of World War II. His hope is that by speaking out about his imprisonment he can help prevent hate crimes of any kind from ever happening again.