AJR commemorates Holocaust Memorial Day by bridging the past and present

His speech was powerfully followed by the testimony of child survivor Joanna Millan, who spent her first three years of life at the Theresienstadt concentration camp. At just four years old, she became one of the six youngest Windermere Children sent to Britain, where she restarted her life as an orphan.

"I knew, even then, that my parents were dead, because everybody’s parents were dead,” Millan said. “I only found out how my parents perished much later on in life. I wanted to know, so I could tell my children what had happened.”

She added: “It is my fervent wish that by sharing my story with young people, I am helping to bridge generations — so that the Holocaust is remembered not as history alone, but as a warning for the future.”

Joanna Millan BEM pictured at AJR's Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration in Belsize Square Synagogue. (Photo: Adam Soller Photography)[Missing Credit]

The service also saw Baroness Ruth Deech, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, in conversation with her daughter Sarah Deech, a third-generation descendant, to discuss the complex emotional inheritance of their forebears’ traumatic Shoah experience.

“Those of us in the second generation grew up shaped by experiences we did not live but saw reflected in our families,” said Ruth, who internalised her parents’ stories of loss at a young age. “They were part of our everyday lives. Holocaust remembrance is not only about honouring the past — it has to be about protecting Jewish families and understanding how its legacy continues to affect society today.”

Ruth’s own daughter, Sarah, added: "I find myself thinking about my grandparents' Holocaust trauma more as I get older and the atmosphere for Jews becomes increasingly febrile. Being the ‘third generation’ means we are close enough to know their stories personally, but far enough away to risk losing them. It’s so important that the stories of our unique community continue to be heard.”

The final speaker, Eddie Caplan, 12, poignantly shared his experience as a fourth generation descendent of a survivor and what it meant to carry his great-grandfather's story with him despite the generational distance between them.

“My great-grandfather came to Britain on his own at 15, not much older than I am today,” Caplan said. “He didn’t know where he would live, or even if he would survive, while I’ve grown up with safety and certainty. Hearing his story makes me realise that remembering the Holocaust is no longer just something older generations do – it’s now my responsibility, too.”

Just before the service, AJR held a separate event to commemorate the 80th anniversary of The AJR Journal, whose monthly issues have been chronicling the lives and experiences of Jewish refugees for eight decades.