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Wellsford has been chosen as the setting for two major events to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
On Sunday, January 26, more than 200 people gathered in the town’s community centre to hear guest speakers that included Holocaust survivor, lawyer and educator Bob Narev, and educational and social activist Dame Lesley Max.
They shared their reflections on the Holocaust, antisemitism and their own experiences before lighting candles in remembrance of the millions of Jewish people killed by Hitler’s Nazi regime.
The event was organised by the Holocaust and Antisemitism Foundation, Aotearoa New Zealand, a charitable educational trust founded in 2012 by a Tomarata couple, photographer and media producer Perry Trotter and historian Dr Sheree Trotter.
The Trotters have also put together a powerful and haunting exhibition, Auschwitz. Now., which is running in the community hall at 267 Rodney Road in Wellsford until late February. Consisting of two rooms fully lined with black cloth, the first display is of large format photographs taken at Auschwitz in 2019 by Perry Trotter. The death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland saw 1.3 million people, 1.1 million of them Jewish, tortured and murdered by Hitler’s SS during World War II.
The second room is lined with 28 black and white close-up portraits of Holocaust survivors, each of whom were photographed and interviewed by the Trotters, and whose individual testimonies play out on a continuous loop of three-minute videos displayed at the far end of the room.
Sheree Trotter says their work to record survivors’ stories began in 2008 on a trip to Israel, where they met Holocaust survivors living on a kibbutz who had been children during the war.
“Perry created their stories in three-minute videos, as we wanted to communicate with the younger generation and thought they might take the time to sit and watch a short video,” she says. “Part of our concern is conveying the reality and history of the Holocaust to a new generation who have no interest, or don’t feel connected, and who might not want to read a book or watch a film about it.
“Over the years, we’ve interviewed more and more survivors, from New Zealand, Australia, the US and Israel, and that’s been the core of our work.”
The resulting exhibition has been staged in museums and galleries all over NZ, including the National Army Museum at Waiouru and in the NZ Parliament, as well as in Dubai.
Sheree says the timing of the exhibition’s Wellsford run could not be more pertinent, due to the recent rise in antisemitism around the world and here in NZ.
“Antisemitism has increased exponentially in NZ,” she says. “New Zealand Jews only account for 0.2 per cent of the population, yet reported hate crimes directed against the Jewish community have surged, accounting for 13 per cent of all reported hate crimes in Auckland alone, and 40 per cent of the physical assaults were on children at school.
“There’s so much ignorance around it, but unfortunately antisemitism has this gift for reinventing itself for a new generation.”
Trotter says with fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors left to tell their stories, it is vitally important to keep their experiences alive, to teach coming generations the dangers of hating people because of religion or race.
“Six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, including 1.5 million children. There are around one million children in New Zealand today – imagine no children in New Zealand! It’s hard for us to get our heads around,” she says.
Auschwitz. Now. is open daily from 10am to 5pm this month, though as it relies on volunteers, text 021 049 5787 to confirm times. Schools and community group bookings welcomed. Volunteer helpers also welcome.
