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Welsh Secretary 'honoured' to meet survivors and shul-goers during Cardiff visit
David Davies said the survivors' recollections had left an indelible memory and praised the Jewish contribution to Welsh life
January 27, 2023 14:22
David Davies said the survivors' recollections had left an indelible memory and praised the Jewish contribution to Welsh life
January 27, 2023 14:22The Welsh Secretary, David Davies, was “incredibly honoured” to meet survivors and members of the Cardiff Orthodox community for a Holocaust Memorial Day event.
The Monmouth MP told the JC that an indelible memory would be his conversations with Eva Gibbor, “who survived because of the Kindertransport, and 95-year-old Auschwitz survivor Terry Farago-Nogaidi.
“Unlike the years that have passed before us, it was clear that the pain and hurt they had been subjected to had not. Quite simply, what they witnessed and suffered was unimaginable.
“It’s a stain on civilisation that Jewish people continue to be subjected to reprehensible vitriol right across the globe.”
He added that as “someone who is exceptionally proud of my distant Jewish ancestry [a great-grandfather from Germany]”, he was delighted to have the opportunity to visit Cardiff United Synagogue.
“Members of this vibrant community rightfully play fulfilling and huge roles throughout Welsh society.”
Mr Davies was proud of the government’s “robust actions in tackling hate and prejudice. The new national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, for example, will poignantly help us achieve our shared aim of remembrance.
“But Holocaust education is paramount too and we must ensure present and future generations are taught the horrors of that genocide, not just in Wales but worldwide.
“These steps will allow all of us to collectively challenge hatred and prejudice in all its forms.
“We must achieve this goal to ensure the horrors of the Holocaust are never forgotten or repeated.
“After all, a quote on display at Auschwitz poignantly reminds us: ‘Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it’.”