Sixth form students presented the mayors of London and Redbridge with banners to mark 70 years since the Nazis’ most infamous concentration camp was liberated.
Aileen Sartor and Dominic Hartfree-Pearce, who attend Woodbridge High School in St Barnabas Road, Woodford Green, visited London’s City Hall to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.
The pupils, both 16, presented London mayor Boris Johnson and Redbridge’s mayor, Cllr Ashley Kissin, with a banner which read: “Six million individuals died in the Holocaust, each had a name, each had a story”.
Holocaust Memorial Day is marked on January 27 each year, the date the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp was liberated.
Simon Shaw, head of sociology at Woodbridge High School, organised the trip.
He said: “This year’s celebration was especially poignant as it is 70 years since Russian troops liberated Auschwitz and effectively ended the Holocaust.
“It will also be the last significant anniversary that will hear first-hand witness statements.”
Key messages from the commemoration event included the importance of making and celebrating connections with people of all faiths and nationalities and the need to be vigilant against those who attempt to exploit divisions between people.
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