Events 2024

The national theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2024 is The Fragility of Freedom. This emphasises the dangerous ease by which basic human freedoms can be lost, and persecuted people can become victims of genocide
 

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY: SATURDAY 27 JANUARY

This year we are holding our main event and traditional Vigil inside Trinity St John sub Castro Church (Abinger Place, Lewes BN7 2QA), with a break in between. Entrance is free; no booking required.

Never again - Holocaust lessons for forgetful times

15.00 (doors open 14.30) Introduction by Matthew Bird, Mayor of Lewes, followed by two talks with Q&A chaired by Gaby Weiner, and live klezmer music from She’Koyokh.

OUR SPEAKERS Guardian journalist Rafael Behr is a political columnist for The Guardian, and is a regular commentator for the BBC, Sky News and Times Radio. His book Politics, A Survivor’s Guide, was published by Atlantic in 2023.
Paris schoolteacher Eric Malandain will speak on an extraordinary school trip to Auschwitz.

MUSIC The wonderful live Klezmer and Balkan music from world-renowned band She’Koyokh (pictured below). The award-winning group has performed to great acclaim at London’s South Bank Centre, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and numerous other top venues. ‘Britain’s best Klezmer band’ Evening Standard; ‘Among the finest klezmer ensembles on the planet’ The Australian.


The event will end by 17.30 followed by a break (tea and coffee provided free of charge) before the Vigil.

Vigil

18.00 In Trinity St John sub Castro Church (note: NOT our usual venue on Cliffe Bridge!). Half an hour or so of readings, shared thoughts, contemplation.
 

FILM SCREENINGS

Depot Cinema, Pinwell Road, Lewes BN7 2JS, lewesdepot.org, 01273 525354

Until 25 January; see lewesdepot.org for dates ONE LIFE (PG)  (2023, 110 mins)
One Life follows British humanitarian Nicholas Winton, who helped save hundreds of Central European children from the Nazis on the eve of World War II. The film is held aloft by outstanding work from a tremendous cast, One Life pays heart-warming tribute to a remarkable humanitarian effort. 
£10 adult/£5 under 25 or those on benefits



Sunday 28 January THE PROMISE (12A) 
17.00 (2016, 134 mins plus an introduction from Jackie Stimpson, whose ancestors fled from the Armenian genocide)
A historical drama of love and war, set in 1915, the last days of the Ottoman Empire. After a brilliant medical student meets a beautiful dance instructor, their shared Armenian heritage explodes into romantic rivalry with her American journalist lover who is dedicated to exposing the truth about the emerging genocide in Armenia.
£10 adult/£5 under 25 or those on benefits



Tuesday 30 January: TREZOROS: THE LOST JEWS OF KASTORIA (18)
18.00 (2016, 87 minutes plus live Q&A with the Executive Producer and Director
Lawrence Russo, whose family has direct ties to Kastoria; hosted by Betty Skolnick)
Using never-before-seen pre-war archival footage and first-person testimonies, this powerful documentary chronicles the Jewish life and culture of Kastoria, a lakeside village in the mountains of northwest Greece. Here, Jews and Orthodox Christians lived together in harmony for over two millennia until World War II, when this long and rich history was wiped out in the blink of an eye. Trezoros takes us from the joyful innocence of the pre-war years through the heartbreaking struggles of the Holocaust, to a unique place in time and history of a Greek Jewish culture lost forever. 
£4.50 adult/£2.50 under 25 or those on benefits


From 2 February: THE ZONE OF INTEREST (PG, 2023, 106 mins, from 2 February) Focuses on Auschwitz Kommandant Rudolf Höss and his family, letting the banality of their lives play out as the horrors of Auschwitz unfold adjacent to their house.


 

OTHER EVENTS

Look out for our window display in Lewes Tourist Information Centre window during the week 19-26 January.
Lewes Library will be displaying books and DVDs for loan on the Holocaust, other genocides and related themes from Saturday 27 January.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The organisers would like to thank Lewes Town Council, Lewes District Council, the Chalk Cliff Trust and Depot cinema for their generous support.