Blog-log Day 15 - a shared note of heritage for me

Regular readers of the blog will know that last year I undertook a personal trip to the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen - my grandfather had been in the Liberation forces in 1945.

This morning I met with Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem. Minister Herzog is a form of political Israeli royalty in that his father was Chaim Herzog (President of Israel 1983-1993), his grandfather was Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog and his uncle was Abba Eban.

Minister Herzog is one of the few rising stars of the Labor Party in Israel - Labor is in a tough place there at the moment - but his charm, wit, speed of thought and personality makes him stand out. He is tipped for higher office and widely respected across the political sectrum in the Knesset and in the media.

We talked about a range of issues: my visit to Gaza, his father and the connection to Bergen-Belsen and the current political situation in the wider Middle East. It's clear to me that Herzog is someone who has a bigger view, he's an internationalist and has a real grasp of building relationships.

As a way of topping off an incredibly thought provoking trip to Israel, meeting and talking with Minister Herzog (nicknamed 'Buji') has done the trick.

Final postscript: I'm typing this at the airport - my final meeting was with Rachel Liel of the New Israel Fund to discuss some of the issues around civic society and development of Israel's democracy and giving the political system greater depth and relevance. Rachael gave me an insight into the beautiful town of Neve Shalom - Wahat Al-Salam. We then drove up to the town - it's just an amazing demonstration into the ideals of Israel and an illustration of how Jewish and Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel live and work together, and set in the most breath-taking scenario.

Right, back to north west London I think :-)

Bergen-Belsen blog report 2

One of the slightly unlikely elements of the camp at Bergen-Belsen was the number of Russian prisoners held there. And so these pictures record the Russian cemetery and the Belarus Ambassador to Germany (?) leading the tributes (below - suited).

This was essentially due to it's being used as a prisoner of war camp initially. It's only later that it was used for Jewish and civillian prisoners and then subsequently as a concentration camp.

So it is that over 50,000 Russians lie buried here... a truly awful number of people. And of course being so far removed from Russia, in western Germany, it's one of the more over-looked elements.

The burial mounds are all laid out and marked with a brown stone witha slavic cross - the number of them is the most daunting feature of the graveyard.

The other element that is so stark is just how far away from the document centre and the Jewish memorial the Russian monument is...

It adds to the sense of a forgotten sacrifice and reveals a small element of the tensions that existed.

Further, it also illustrates the size of the camp when in operation and the extent to which the forest has since encroached back. The other factor is that actually the prisoners in the camp were themselves segregated and kept very very much apart...

Bergen-Belsen blog report 1

I'd been putting off the visit for a while so wasn't quite sure what to expect. For those not familiar Bergen-Belsen was a concentration camp in Lower Saxony from the second world war - my grandfather had been in the liberation relief forces and I had been planning to for ages.

Because of the typhus outbreak before, at liberation the camp was totally destroyed and burnt down and so it has the effect of being essentially a wooded park land with memorials and graves.

But four kilometeres up the road, close to the village of Bergen itself are the rail track where the prisoners were unloaded and forced to walk to the camp.

It is a truly awful and poignant reminded of the reality if what was involved.

I walked from Bergen to the tracks and then onto the camp and it gave a real sense of perspective on the alienation of being uprooted from your home and transported to this place - unfamiliar, aggressive, unpleasant - a genocidal holocaust...

Now there is a sculpted memorial (above left) and also a service where local residents and school-children have written out the names of many of those transported to the camp and then candles are lit - some speakers, a few songs and a time to reflect. very moving, very emotional...
www.ag-bergen-belsen.de
www.bergenbelsen.de

Young people to be proud of...

Remembrance Day is always special and it is something I have always been passionate about.

Both my grandfathers were in the Second World War, (my maternal grandfather was very affected by being the only survivor from his boat to Normandy and my paternal grandfather was one of the liberation team at Bergen Belsen).

Going back a bit further, my parent's house is named 'Ashton' after my great aunt's brother who was killed at Mons (IIRC), we had a cousin imprisoned in the first world war who died in Cologne and my Mum has just given me the medals of my Great Uncle Nathan to look after.

Indeed my father was born in Braintree during WW2 as the family had been evacuated out of London.

So, for all these reasons and more recognising the signiicance of this small act of remembrance each year matters. So the Hampstead Cemetary service - co-ordinated by St Lukes - is a great, personal and relevant service for the local community.

Last year we arranged for puils from UCS to lay a wreath and this year we had four pupils from UCS and Hampstead Schools to lay wreaths. It was a very special and quite emotional service - a tribute to those pupils, those schools and very special for many of the older folks who were present to see the next generations playing their part.

Hampstead Cemetary is special because not only does it has the war memorial, but it also has the civillian memorial - (pictured right).

To see any of these pictures closer just double click and they should open up on your screen.

It all confirms my hopes for society and gives confidence in our young people.