Schoolchildren join two key organisations and their MP to remember the Holocaust

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A simple but moving ceremony right here in Cumbernauld called to mind another day which played a pivotal role in the 20th century when Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated.

Now of course it is known as Holocaust Memorial Day and two groups were instrumental in paying tribute to the six million Jews who perished along with the other victims of Hitler, as they came together in the aptly named Cumbernauld Peace Garden.

They were Cumbernauld Environmental Society who were responsible for bringing this haven next to Greenfaulds Bowling Club to life and who work tirelessly to maintain it, along with Cumbernauld Rotary Club.

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A two minute silence was held for the victims, wreaths were laid and more recent atrocities too were reflected upon in locations like Bosnia, Darfur and Cambodia.

The fate of the people of Afghanistan and the Uighur population in China was also called to mind.

The message of the day was not lost on participant John Kay who lost ancestors in Nazi occupied Poland and who spoke movingly about their fate on the day after it emerged that some perished in the Warsaw Ghetto and camps like Auschwitz and Treblinka.

Mr Kay said: “It was heartening to see so many members of our own Cumbernauld community gather together to mark this important event in their beautiful Peace Garden on a sunny January morning."

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All those present reflected on the commemoration during refreshments at the bowling club and prepared too for the afternoon visit of P6 pupils from Woodlands Primary who had discussed the occasion at their assembly and whose conduct was described as “exemplary.”

Also attending on the day was MP Stuart McDonald who said: “I am hugely grateful to Cumbernauld Environmental Society for putting on this incredibly important event.

“It was great to have the primary school kids there too, as we work to make sure remembrance is passed onto future generations.

"This year the theme of holocaust memorial day was ‘one day’ – remembering specific points in time where atrocities were committed; but also committing ourselves to work toward ‘one day’ when we can say we have made genocide a thing of the past. But there is a very long way to go”.

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