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HOLOCAUST CENTRE FAMILY RECEIVE RARE TRIPLE HONOUR
This is Nottingham
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Holocaust-Centre-family-receive-rare-triple-honour/article-2441529-detail/article.html
July 22 2010
A FAMILY who founded the UK's first Holocaust memorial centre in
Notts are to receive a rare triple honour.
Marina Smith and sons James and Stephen will receive honorary degrees
from Nottingham Trent University.
Fifteen years ago, the family created the Holocaust Centre in Laxton,
which has since welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors. Stephen,
who is now executive director of the Shoah Foundation - founded by
Hollywood director Steven Spielberg in Los Angeles -is unable to
attend today's graduation ceremony but Mrs Smith and James will be
at the Royal Concert Hall to receive honorary Doctor of Letters awards.
Most of the visitors to the Holocaust Centre, where the peaceful
setting of the north Notts village is ideal for reflection in the
memorial garden, are schoolchildren.
There they have the opportunity to meet a survivor of the Holocaust,
several of whom live in Notts, learn about their experiences and
reflect on the lessons this history holds for the future.
The centre is home to The Journey, the country's first Holocaust
exhibition aimed at primary school pupils, which follows the story
of a fictional Jewish child, Leo Stein.
Much of the award-winning exhibition focuses on the Kindertransport,
the rescue mission which brought 10,000 young refugees from Nazi
Germany and occupied territories to the UK without their parents
in 1938-39.
Also based at the centre is the Aegis Trust, a genocide prevention
organisation, founded by the Smiths in 2000.
Dr James Smith, chairman of the Holocaust Centre, said: "We're thrilled
to be sharing this award, which celebrates not only the work of the
Holocaust Centre and Aegis Trust but also the strong ties we have with
Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University and the whole local community.
"It recognises, too, that the creation of the Holocaust Centre was
a family effort. We could not have done this without each other,
without the generosity of our supporters, nor without the family
of survivors who give of themselves and their experiences to help
educate a new generation about the dangers of prejudice and ideas
that can divide a society."
It was during a family holiday to Israel in 1981 that the brothers
first recognised that Christianity began in the country but had become
far removed from its Jewish origins. Ten years later, a day at Yad
Vashem, Israel's official memorial, convinced them that British people
needed to confront the reality of the Holocaust.
They envisaged an exhibition, which would occupy a few rooms of the
farmhouse used by their parents as a small Christian conference centre.
What evolved was Britain's first dedicated memorial and education
centre to focus on the history and consequences of the persecution and
murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime in the Second World War.
As well as commemorating the victims, the centre sets out to educate
the younger generation about the Holocaust and more recent atrocities
in Armenia, Cambodia and Rwanda.
The Aegis Trust has strong links with Nottingham Trent University,
through its thriving student branch. Former members recently opened
The Charity Shop in Goosegate, Nottingham, to support Aegis' work.
From: A. Papazian
This is Nottingham
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/news/Holocaust-Centre-family-receive-rare-triple-honour/article-2441529-detail/article.html
July 22 2010
A FAMILY who founded the UK's first Holocaust memorial centre in
Notts are to receive a rare triple honour.
Marina Smith and sons James and Stephen will receive honorary degrees
from Nottingham Trent University.
Fifteen years ago, the family created the Holocaust Centre in Laxton,
which has since welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors. Stephen,
who is now executive director of the Shoah Foundation - founded by
Hollywood director Steven Spielberg in Los Angeles -is unable to
attend today's graduation ceremony but Mrs Smith and James will be
at the Royal Concert Hall to receive honorary Doctor of Letters awards.
Most of the visitors to the Holocaust Centre, where the peaceful
setting of the north Notts village is ideal for reflection in the
memorial garden, are schoolchildren.
There they have the opportunity to meet a survivor of the Holocaust,
several of whom live in Notts, learn about their experiences and
reflect on the lessons this history holds for the future.
The centre is home to The Journey, the country's first Holocaust
exhibition aimed at primary school pupils, which follows the story
of a fictional Jewish child, Leo Stein.
Much of the award-winning exhibition focuses on the Kindertransport,
the rescue mission which brought 10,000 young refugees from Nazi
Germany and occupied territories to the UK without their parents
in 1938-39.
Also based at the centre is the Aegis Trust, a genocide prevention
organisation, founded by the Smiths in 2000.
Dr James Smith, chairman of the Holocaust Centre, said: "We're thrilled
to be sharing this award, which celebrates not only the work of the
Holocaust Centre and Aegis Trust but also the strong ties we have with
Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University and the whole local community.
"It recognises, too, that the creation of the Holocaust Centre was
a family effort. We could not have done this without each other,
without the generosity of our supporters, nor without the family
of survivors who give of themselves and their experiences to help
educate a new generation about the dangers of prejudice and ideas
that can divide a society."
It was during a family holiday to Israel in 1981 that the brothers
first recognised that Christianity began in the country but had become
far removed from its Jewish origins. Ten years later, a day at Yad
Vashem, Israel's official memorial, convinced them that British people
needed to confront the reality of the Holocaust.
They envisaged an exhibition, which would occupy a few rooms of the
farmhouse used by their parents as a small Christian conference centre.
What evolved was Britain's first dedicated memorial and education
centre to focus on the history and consequences of the persecution and
murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime in the Second World War.
As well as commemorating the victims, the centre sets out to educate
the younger generation about the Holocaust and more recent atrocities
in Armenia, Cambodia and Rwanda.
The Aegis Trust has strong links with Nottingham Trent University,
through its thriving student branch. Former members recently opened
The Charity Shop in Goosegate, Nottingham, to support Aegis' work.
From: A. Papazian