Methodist Visit to Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre

Fifty Methodist probationary ministers and ordinands have attended a special visit to Beth Shalom, the Holocaust Education Centre in Newark, organised by the CCJ. This is the only centre totally dedicated to the Holocaust in the UK.

Founded by two Methodists, Stephen and James Smith, James related to the group how a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Centre in Jerusalem had proved life-changing for him and his brother. Having previously imagined that the Holocaust was of concern mainly to Jews, they realised that it is an issue for all and determined that people in Britain should have a Holocaust Education Centre of their own. The result was Beth Shalom, the 'House of Peace'.

The group visited the exhibitions portraying Jewish life in Europe prior to the Nazi period, the development of National Socialism and its implementation of race ideology and antisemitic laws, Kristallnacht and the Kindertransport, before visiting a two-gallery section describing Europe’s occupation by the Nazis.

The group heard a moving talk from Holocaust survivor John Fieldsend, who came to Britain on the Kindertransport about his childhood in Czechoslovakia, the fear engendered by the Nazis, and his long journey to England with his brother which ended with him being fostered by a Christian family. He later learned that all the rest of his family had perished in the concentration camps

The visit was organised and funded by CCJ, as part of its Encounters 1 project. CCJ has given particular emphasis to reconciliation between Methodists and Jews in the last two in the light of difficulties following the report Justice for Palestine and Israel.

Bruce Thompson, Chair of Lincoln and Grimsby Methodist District who has been concerned to promote this reconciliation is keen that more people should be aware of the Methodist roots of the Beth Shalom Centre. He organised a group of 15 probationary ministers from his District to join the visit.

Bruce Said:

Some of us are prone to forget how recent the Second World War was. The Holocaust remains a massive nightmare for many, not only the remaining survivors but their children too, the next generation who still reel at the impact such an experience had upon their own lives. For the Christian Church it is an event that needs to be more comprehensively addressed. We cannot overlook the fact that it was conducted, in the main, by baptised Christians, in whose presence we would have been comfortable. The camp guards went home on leave, enjoyed family life and often attended worship on a Sunday. The lessons to be drawn from this can only help us in our quest for a more peaceful world, free of prejudice based on ignorance and fear. This is why the visit to Beth Shalom of student ministers and ministers recently appointed to churches was so important.

Participant,. Revd Derek Long commented:

I have been to a number of Holocaust Memorial centres, and I have found Beth Shalom to have the most constructive, positive and well thought-out displays. It has everything, and is so well worth visiting'. Another minister commented: 'It is really important that people know about the Holocaust, and it was such a special thing to hear from a survivor. The whole atmosphere of Beth Shalom speaks volumes'

The ordinands in the group came from the Queen's Foundation, Birmingham, where the visit formed the final day of a three-day intensive on Christian-Jewish relations, organised by tutor Ray Gaston in partnership with CCJ. The students also enjoyed a full day of lectures from Rabbi Mark Solomon, inter-faith consultant for Liberal Judaism.

At the end of their visit the group dedicated a white rose in the Centre's Garden of Remembrance, with a plaque reading: 'Dedicated to the memory of Shoah victims, by Methodist Clergy and Ordinands from Queen's Foundation, Birmingham, Dec. 2011'.

For more on Beth Shalom see: www.holocaustcentre.net