On Friday 27 January, Holocaust Memorial Day, a Souvenir d'Anne Frank rose was planted in the Peace Garden at Christchurch Park in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
The event was led by Val Ross from The Anne Frank Trust and attended by Councillor Roger Fern, Deputy Mayor of Ipswich and his wife Mrs Pat Fern, Cllr Mary Young, Cllr Jane Chambers, Cllr Sandy Martin, Cllr Inga Lockington, Allison Coleman from Suffolk County Council's Equalities and Inclusion Team, Elizabeth Sugarman, a representative of the Jewish community, Deborah Charles from Suffolk Hate Crime Service, Chief Executive Sarah Holmes and colleagues from the New Wolsey Theatre, Richard Wilson from Friends of Christchurch Mansion, pupils and teachers from Castle Hill Primary School and many others.
The rose was sent to theatre company Ensemble from Japan where it has been cultivated from a plant originally sent to a young Japanese girl by Anne's father Otto. In Japan it is regarded as a symbol of peace.
Ensemble's new theatre and music piece, also called Souvenir d'Anne Frank, tells the extraordinary story of the rose in Japan and appears at New Wolsey Theatre on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 March. Named after the rose, the production infuses music with poetry, performance and song to tell the moving and inspiring story of the Souvenir d'Anne Frank rose, and of Anne's days in hiding before her capture.
Val Ross opened the event:
"I am honoured to be here with you on Holocaust Memorial Day as a representative of The Anne Frank Trust UK at this time of reflection and commemoration for those millions of lives which were brutally ended by a regime of terror, hatred and bigotry. Whilst we know so much about Anne we remember those whose names we don't know and yet for whom we continue mourn.
"The reason we know so much about Anne Frank is because of her diary - which was first published as a book, in Dutch, in 1947. Since then, millions of people have read the thoughts and hopes of one young girl and have been inspired by them. Anne knew what was happening to her Jewish friends and neighbours, and even though she was trapped in her hiding place, Anne always believed in the true goodness of people."
Lorna Garside, a member of the New Wolsey Young Company read an extract from Ensemble's play:
"Welcome to the story of the Souvenir d'Anne Frank rose in Japan.
Grafted from a rose made in the year of Anne's birth, and another made in the year of her death, the ‘Souvenir d'Anne Frank' rose was created in Europe in 1960.
Today, in many Japanese schools... from Hokkaido in the North, all the way to Okinawa in the South, children grow Anne's roses. And her roses bloom in the Peace Gardens at Hiroshima and Nagasaki... cultivated by children with love and respect. Beautiful, sweet, pink and golden roses growing towards the light...
The story began when, a young Japanese girl, Michiko Otsuki, read Anne Frank's Diary. She was so moved that she wrote to Anne's father, Otto Frank, in Switzerland. Otto replied, and they wrote many more letters to each other.
Then, one Christmas, Otto sent Michiko a dozen ‘Souvenir d'Anne Frank' rose bushes to Japan. All died... except for one. So, Michiko asked her uncle, Mr Yamamuro for help. He was a retired school teacher, now a grafter of Bonsai. He saved and grafted Anne's rose, then went on grafting more and more roses...
Mr Yamamuro was thinking about the children he used to teach and about his sadness when they were drafted, so young, to fight in the war... He remembered when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When they declared the war was over... but, in Japan, a new horror had only just begun.
Mr Yamamuro found new strength in grafting Anne's roses. He sent them to schools all over Japan, so that children could come to know about Anne as they nurtured the beautiful roses. So they would learn about the dark times of the war, the dark times he remembered. So they would be ready to stand up against injustice and racism... looking always for the peaceful way. So they would never forget."
Deputy Mayor Cllr Roger Fern addressed the children from Castle Hill Primary School direct and stressed the important of tolerance of acceptance using a quote from Edmund Burke:
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing"
The children then read and hung their beautiful and through-provoking messages to Anne on the Remembrance Tree.
They included:
"Thank you Anne for teaching us a lesson and making us think before we speak"
PJ
"Dear Anne, thank you for telling us never to give up on your dreams or judge someone just because of what they look like"
Katie
"Thank you Anne for showing us that even when times get tough we can believe in freedom"
Adam
Lorna Garside ended the event with Anne Frank's poem Give:
"Why is the beggar so rude?
I wonder if rich people sitting at home
With their good social laws and their cultural aplomb
Ever get round to asking themselves
Why is a beggar so rude?
Why is the rich man so mean?
Oh, why is the rich man so mean?
We're all born alike as babes
We breathe the same air be we masters or slaves
We all have to die and nothing remains
So, why is the rich man so mean?
Why not begin it today?
Oh, why not begin it today?
How lovely to think that we each have the power
To be loving and fair; to give justice her hour
By giving none ever poorer became
So, why not begin it today?"
Thank you to everyone who attended and for your contributions. Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) takes place each year on 27th January and provides an opportunity for everyone to learn lessons from the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and subsequent genocides and apply them to the present day to create a safer, better future.
The theme for HMD 2012 is ‘Speak up, Speak out'.