29 Oct 07 – Vice President of the Methodist Conference Mrs Ruby Beech has praised the work of the Holocaust Centre and Aegis Trust, paying tribute to the founders and urging Methodists to visit the Holocaust Centre in greater numbers.
Her comments came on Saturday during her first visit to the Holocaust Centre, accompanied by Rev. Wesley Blakey, Chairman of the Nottingham and Derby Methodist District, and fellow members of the church. They were welcomed by Centre Co-Founder Mrs Marina Smith.
“I felt very moved by what I found here, and I’ll definitely be telling people, as I go round the districts this year, more about the Holocaust Centre,” Mrs Beech stated. “I’ve never spoken to anyone who’s been here who hasn’t been impressed and come away feeling that they’ve learned more. The message I certainly go away with is the danger of dehumanising people, putting them into groups and beginning to think, ‘they’re not like me, they’re not important, they are somehow ‘other’, and the danger that that gets us into. It’s something that we all need to remember.”
A bigger vision
On a personal note, she thanked the Smith family – who founded Aegis and the Holocaust Centre – for the important role they played in her own life, long before the Centre was founded. Brothers Stephen and James Smith established the Holocaust Centre in 1995 with their mother, Marina, previously an RE Head, taking on the role of Education Director for the Centre’s first ten years. Their father, Edward, had been a minister in the Methodist Church.
“My first memory of Stephen and James is of them being about five and seven, as I went to their parent’s house. It was their parents who first nurtured me in the Methodist Church, and in a way it’s because of them that I’m doing what I’m doing today,” Mrs Beech said. “I’ve always greatly valued their friendship and concern, but to see that turned into this bigger vision is really inspiring.”
“I was very affected by the Centre’s exhibition,” commented the Rev. Wesley Blakey. “As well as commemorating the atrocities of the past, it highlights in my mind the fact that we must continually struggle for justice and goodness against evil in each generation. Clearly this is a very important place for Holocaust survivors, and for all who’ve been touched by that past, but also it’s a place where I can see this and future generations will be challenged in their attitudes towards their fellow human beings.”
“It was a real pleasure to be able to welcome old friends and new from the Methodist Church today,” commented Mrs Smith. “We look forward to greeting many more here in the future.”To read Mrs Beech’s blog entry on the visit, click here.
