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On 27 January Jackie Bat-Isha from Borth will join millions of others across the world in marking Holocaust Memorial Day 2025 and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945.
She will be honouring and remembering her grandfather, Leib Nussbaum, who was among the millions murdered under Nazi persecution in Auschwitz concentration camp in occupied Poland. He was arrested with others in Vichy France whilst fleeing the Nazis from his home in Belgium.
Leib Nussbaum was taken to a holding camp in Drancy, Paris and from there, by cattle train, to Auschwitz on 9 September 1942. Documents list him as ‘gassed on arrival’.
This year will be the 80th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and there will be memorial services to honour and remember those who were murdered in the Holocaust. It is a very important and significant date as it will be the last date that many survivors may still be alive. The date also marks 30 years since the genocide in Bosnia.
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An online ceremony will be streamed live on the Holocaust Memorial Day website and will be broadcast live on BBC One at 7pm on 27 January. The organisers are asking people to light a candle and place it in their window for the Light in the Darkness national moment.
To mark the event, Ceredigion County Council will be illuminating civic buildings and the National Library will also be illuminated. Booklets about the Holocaust will also be available in the National Library as well as local libraries in both Welsh and English.
Speaking to the Cambrian News, Jackie said: “There are no graves for the millions murdered in the Holocaust. There are not even any markers now for the many Jewish villages that were totally obliterated. Holocaust Memorial Day helps to ensure that the story is told.”
“If we think about the population of Wales – just over three million people – in a country rich in traditions, heritage and language, it brings a wider context. Six million Jewish people were murdered in the Holocaust and much of their rich heritage, tradition and language died with them. Please mark the day for Remembrance and Awareness.”
The theme this year for Holocaust Memorial Day is ‘For a Better Future.’ Borth Community Hub on Clarach Road, Borth, will be holding a community event for all ages to paint candles and light the darkness. They will be joined by pupils from Ysgol Craig yr Wylfa for an afternoon of reflection and remembrance between 2pm and 3pm, and all are welcome to attend.