A man who survived concentration camps and forced labour under the Nazis will be speak at Dudley’s annual Holocaust Commemoration on Friday January 29th.

The annual commemoration – usually attended by hundreds of residents - will take place online this year because of the Covid pandemic.

Manfred Goldberg BEM who was born in 1930 in Germany. He and his mother and brother were deported in 1941 to a ghetto before he was sent to a forced labour camp and then to the Stutthof concentration camp. He was awarded the BEM in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List in 2018 in recognition for his work in Holocaust education and visited the Stutthof Concentration Camp with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2017.

The annual event is organised by Dudley College’s Students Union and a small group of volunteers including Dudley councillor Keiran Casey and former local MP, Lord Austin of Dudley.

The event will include a presentation from a local student who visited Auschwitz with the Holocaust Educational Trust who help the group organise the event and have contributions from local faith and civic leaders including the Bishop of Dudley, Rabbi Margaret Jacobi and John Crabtree OBE, the Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands.

It will be really easy for anyone with access to a smartphone, tablet or computer to join the event through Microsoft Teams by clicking here. Councillor Keiran Casey said:

“We are very grateful to Manfred Goldberg for agreeing to take part.  It's amazing that Holocaust survivors spend their time teaching people where hatred and prejudice can lead."

“Hundreds of local people usually come to these events and they really help bring people together and build a stronger community."

"We were determined not to be prevented by the pandemic and we have made it as easy as possible for anyone to join us, so a big thank you to everyone that has helped to make this possible."