Since 2015, Lewes Holocaust Memorial Day Group have run events in the days around Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) on January 27, which marks the date of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945.

‘As the years pass, we’re growing more distant in time from the Holocaust and from the other, more recent genocides that are commemorated on HMD. That distance brings a risk – memory fades and the sharp reality of what happened becomes blurred, abstract or even questioned.

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.

Genocide doesn’t discriminate by age: infants, children, adults and the elderly have all experienced unimaginable suffering in different ways. In many cases, entire family lines were erased. Bridging Generations invites us to honour each life – and honour those who left no family to carry their legacy – whose legacies live on not through bloodlines but through books, films and other interpretations.’

– hmd.org.uk

The organisers would like to thank Lewes Town Council, Lewes District Council and Depot Cinema for their generous support.