Over 900 pupils in Kingston-upon-Thames attended events marking Holocaust Memorial Day at two local synagogues over 20-27 January.

The educational workshops were organised by Kingston Liberal Synagogue (KLS) and Kingston, Surbiton and District Synagogue (KSDS), with funding by the Royal Borough of Kingston Grant.

They marked the 19^th year of an annual remembrance project run together by the two synagogues with the purpose of sharing knowledge about the Holocaust.

Holocaust Memorial Day this year fell on Monday 27 January 2025.

It commemorates the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of other people persecuted by the Nazis.

2025's national theme was "For a Better Future."

KLS said that each workshop hosted around 100 13-15-year-old students from the borough.

The nine key speakers included four Holocaust survivors and adult descendants. They each gave a talk after which the students were able to ask questions.

This was followed by a film "Secret Lives" about people in Nazi-occupied countries, who risked their own lives to hide Jews during the Holocaust.

At the end of the workshops, the students reflected on what they had learnt and wrote postcards to the survivors. These workshops are not just a history lesson: students considered what freedoms they value and the importance of respecting differences of race and religion.

Boys from Southborough High School light candles during the HMD workshops at KSDS on Monday 20 January 2025 (Image supplied)

After hearing survivor Marcel Ladenheim's testimony, one girl from Cooombe Girls' School wrote: "Hearing Marcel's story has made me think that the Holocaust was even more terrible than they say in history because it was said by someone who had survived how the Nazis were treating Jews.

"And I think these stories need to be told more so people are more educated and so that nothing like that happens again."

Another girl during the same school's synagogue visit on 20 January wrote: "These stories need to be shared more and we need to make sure that we can stop stuff like this happening again because it shouldn't ever happen or have happened.

I hope that you [Marcel] are happier now and that it doesn't impact you all the time and I hope that you can continue to share this because it is good and helpful."

KLS said that almost all the pupils attending were non-Jewish and for many, the workshops were their first experiences inside a synagogue.

The events were held in the two synagogues as well as at two of the participating schools.