Coordinated by the Holocaust Educational Trust, this year’s theme is Bridging Generations, a theme that reflects the need to pass on the message and learning from the period of the Holocaust to future generations, so that what happened cannot be forgotten.  This theme encourages us all to engage actively with the past – to listen, to learn and to carry those lessons forward. By doing so, we build a bridge between memory and action, between history and hope for the future.

Bridging Generations highlights the crucial role of the next generation in preserving the memory of the Holocaust and carrying it forward. It highlights the power of intergenerational dialogue – of listening to those who came before us and of sharing those stories with those who come after. In doing so, we don’t just preserve memory – we connect it to the present.  

We also heard from Professor David Brauner, Professor of English at the University of Reading, and Dr. Button's husband, who spoke at the assembly about his mother, a Holocaust survivor who sadly died a few months ago.  He shared a little about her life and the experiences she went through as a child.  While Prof Brauner could only speak for a short while, we hope that with our Holocaust Ambassadors, we can arrange for a longer visit to extend and detail his mother's experience and life much more.  

Ms Kattirtzi also spoke about the importance of bridging generations and how we can individually and collectively contribute to this ambition at Kendrick School.  From continuing to have this assembly every year, having ongoing discussions of these issues with friends and family, supporting charities and organisations that seek peace and reconciliation and adhering to our Kendrick Pledge, the last being the most important one we can all do at Kendrick.  

Staff and students were invited to sign the Kendrick Pledge Book in the Library.  Every year a new display about Holocaust Memorial Day is prepared and put up in the Vestibule and library. With this year’s theme, the title of the display is Bridging Generations.  There is also a poetry competition for students to enter with a deadline of early March.  The assembly finished with The Kendrick Pledge, read by Koyenum and Atika.