Harwich Sixth Form students read out Holocaust Memorial Day poems

Cameron Shephard and Maddison Berry from Harwich and Dovercourt High School laid wreathes and read their poems out during the service at the Kindertransport statue near Harwich Pier.

Camerom explained the thinking behind his poem called Fragile Freedom being about how the Kindertransport children got literal freedom, and added: “Whilst those left behind got metaphorical freedom.

“Living on in the memory of their descendants in a happier much more peaceful time”.

Speaker - Cameron Shephard (Image: Steve Brading)

Fragile Freedom by Cameron Shephard

We had left a broken, doomed country
Our families bid us farewell on the platform
Final words shared between sons and fathers
Never to see them again.

The Trainride was full of laughter and hope
Once the border was crossed we saw our future
Sweet treats given to us by kind people
Forgetting our previous woes.

Wide, sprawling seas now separated us
Yet never would I forget their faces
They lived in our memories
It was their liberation.

We landed bright and early,
A fresh new day ahead of us
Anxiously we left the Kindertransport
Which had so graciously given us a chance to live.

Commemoration - Maddison Berry (Image: Steve Brading)

Mother’s Words by Maddison Berry

‘Scars will heal’
My mother always said,
It was growing difficult to conceal,
A pain unmatched,
The liberty of a new land ahead.

‘You’ll be safe’
My mother once said,
I ‘had to be brave’
But perhaps this was freedom,
Perhaps peace was ahead. 

‘Take my love with you’
My mother finally said,
The boat had an unmatched view.
Sanctuary was ahead,
I did hope she was safe too.

Harwich Town Council commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day at the Kindertransport memorial on January, 26 due to the timing of the Jewish Sabbath with January, 27 being the date of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945.