On Thursday 27 January 2022 at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Bury St Edmunds will hold a special service for Holocaust Memorial Day to remember the victims of genocide. The service will take place in the Peace Garden in the Abbey Gardens at 10.30am.
The theme for 2022’s Holocaust Memorial Day is One Day. One day that we come together to remember and learn. We remember the Holocaust but also the genocide that has affected Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. This is especially poignant in Bury St Edmunds with our links to Rwanda from our 2012 hosting of their Olympic and Paralympic teams for their pre-games training camps. Many of these athletes had their lives disrupted, or carried physical reminders, of this time in their country’s history.
As well as the special service there will be a 30-minute silent meditation immediately followed by Eucharist at 12.30pm, with a series of short reflections, titled Place, Space, Heart and Mind, delivered throughout the afternoon in the Nave of the Cathedral by Revd Sally Letman and Revd Sarah Geileskey: Alumni of the Council of Christians and Jews collaboration with The International School of Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. These will take place at 1.30pm, 2.15pm, 3.00pm and 3.45pm.
The Cathedral will also show videos across screens as reminders of genocide with poetry and art displayed to encourage a creative response. The evening’s Evensong music will reflect the remembrance.
The Revd Canon Matthew Vernon said, ‘This annual service is an important moment to pause and reflect on how injustice affects people throughout the generations. Past genocides including the Holocaust continue to reverberate today and call us to challenge discrimination in our time. Remembrance and special services help us learn more about the past and inspire us to take action for a better future.’
You can find out more about Holocaust Memorial Day here: www.hmd.org.uk/