An event organised by NHS England’s Health and Care Jewish Network in conjunction with our My Voice Project took place on Holocaust Memorial Day at NHS England’s office in central Manchester.
The network has some 200 members, approximately 60% of whom are Jewish.
This was the third year that it has hosted the HMD event which was coordinated by its Manchester chair, Rachel Snow-Miller, and from our team – Louise Senderowich, Jocelyne Elton, Michelle Sallon and Michelle Moses.
Survivor and My Voice storyteller, Tomi Komoly, read from his book “Survival, Escape and New Horizons”. He was joined by fellow storyteller Gerda Rothberg – also a tenant of our Moorview community – in lighting one of six memorial candles honouring the memory of those brutally murdered in the Holocaust.
Other candles were lit by Ms. Snow-Miller, Chris Hopson, Chief Strategy Officer NHS England, Emily Lawson, its Chief Operating Officer and Richard Barker, its Regional Director for the Northeast and Yorkshire and Northwest regions.
This was the first time the event, attended by over 180 people, was held both online and in person with members of the network travelling from Leicester and Nottingham to join Manchester colleagues.
Chris Hopson spoke of how the key values of the NHS England highlight the importance of compassion, respect, and dignity, which is so important in today’s world. Emily Lawson closed the event emphasising how in today’s world, “it is ever so important to build on the strength of learning and acceptance of different people’s faiths”. She commented on the fragility of society and her hope that we all
focus on the positives of respecting and including people, irrespective of faith.She and Chris pressed home the importance and universality of the lessons we can learn from hearing survivors’ testimonies.