"Bridging Generations" Holocaust memorial day 2026
For Holocaust Memorial Day 2026 we have curated images from our archive,by Josef Herman, that respond to the theme of “Bridging Generations” and presented them here on our website. This includes for example mother and child carried in the traditional Welsh 'siol' (shawl), family units, mother feeding a baby.
Additionally, St Joseph's Cathedral Primary School pupils attended the Welfare in Ystradgynlais to undertake an art workshop and to learn about the foundation, the archive and to walk around Ystradgynlais in Herman's footsteps. The participants were shown these curated images and visually responded to the images in their own style. These images are also seen below. Working with these school participants also bridges generations.
"The theme for #HolocaustMemorialDay 2026 is Bridging Generations. A call to action and reminder that the responsibility of remembrance doesn’t end with the survivors – it lives on through their children, their grandchildren and through all of us." (https://hmd.org.uk/)
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Holocaust Memorial Day 2025
The Welfare Ystradgynlais and the Josef Herman Art Foundation Cymru present a moving and thought-provoking event to mark Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), observed annually on 27th January to honour the memory of the millions who suffered under Nazi persecution during the Holocaust. 2025 commemorates the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the infamous concentration camp in south-west Poland, by Russian troops on 27th January 1945.
The evening began with a presentation by the Josef Herman Art Foundation, exploring the life and work of Josef Herman, a renowned Polish refugee artist who found a welcoming home in Ystradgynlais. Also an exhibition of some of his works.
Following the presentation, a poetry reading connected history, art, and remembrance.
The event culminated with the screening of A Real Pain, a new film starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin as mismatched cousins who reunite for a tour through Poland to honour their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history
Holocaust Memorial Day 2024
Saturday, 27th January, we commemorated HMD24/The Fragility of Freedom in partnership with the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.
A special film screening of the The Silent Village, a 1943 British propaganda short film in the form of a drama documentary, made by the Crown Film Unit and directed by Humphrey Jennings.
The film is the true story of the massacre of the Czech village of Lidice by the Nazis. Retold as if it happened in Wales.
The actors were the mining community of Cwmgiedd and Ystradgynlais in the Swansea Valley.
Freedom is fragile, what happened in Lidice could so easily have happened in one of our villages here in Wales.
Holocaust Memorial Day 2023
HMD2023 was remembered by a small audience (COVID-19 restrictions continued) we watched the film the Silent Village in Swansea College of Art University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
British propaganda short film in the form of a drama documentary, made by the Crown Film Unit and directed by Humphrey Jennings. The film is the true story of the massacre of the Czech village of Lidice by the Nazis. Retold as if it happened in Wales.
The actors were the mining community of Cwmgiedd and Ystradgynlais in the Swansea Valley.
Fly the flag December 2023
Fly the Flag for Human Rights!
To mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on Sunday 10th December 2023, the Josef Herman Foundation is once again flying the flags made with community groups but this time the flags are flying in Sardis, Ystradgynlais the future new home for the Foundation.
Holocaust Memorial Day 2023
This film is introduced by the Josef Herman Art Foundation Cymru on Holocaust Memorial Day 2022 on the theme One Day. Karolina Jones shares stories of her great-grandparents during the Second World War in Poland.
Karolina also introduces her journey from Poland to making a home in Wales and her relationship with the Welsh language.
Karolina Jones 2022: Stories of Combatants 'Straeon Brwydwyr'