Talk: 8pm to 9pm talk Conversation: 9pm onwards Q&A

Please join us for a special talk on Holocaust Memorial Day itself with our Poet in Residence for HMD, Michael Rosen. All are welcome and there will be a Q&A at the end. It is a free event and we ask only for charity donations for Cambridge Charities supporting Refugees and People Experiencing Homelessness.

Told through prose and poetry, this is the true story of Michael Rosen’s search for his relatives who ‘went missing’ during the Second World War. When Michael was growing up, there were family stories about his paternal great-uncles, Oscar and Martin, who moved to France from Poland and then disappeared during the war.

Over many years, Michael tried to find out exactly what happened. “No one in my family knew anything about them, and this frustrated me beyond words. It meant the Nazis has succeeded. And the last thing I wanted was for them to have won” he writes.

The story he uncovered starting with fragments and memories is one of persecution and tragedy. Out of it he has found a way to talk to children about the Holocaust.

Michael Rosen is a novelist, poet, broadcaster, performer and former Children’s Laureate. He is the author of over 140 books, mostly humorous and mostly for children. ‘Going on a Bear Hunt’ has sold over 8 million copies!

He is Professor of Children’s Literature at Goldsmiths College, University of London and holds many honorary degrees. In 2008 the French government presented him with the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Michael campaigns widely and vigorously on issues of education and literacy and regularly takes the government to task on matters relating to schools and teaching in his ‘Letter from a Curious Parent’ in the education pages of the Guardian. He is the presenter of Radio 4’s ‘Word of Mouth’, which examines the English language and the way it is used, and there are more than one hundred of Michael’s ‘Word of Mouth’ programmes from the last few years freely available on BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qtnz

Michael has also made an audio collection of poetry about his family killed at Auschwitz and poems to resist racism and prejudice, produced by HistoryWorks which you can freely access here:

https://audioboom.com/playlists/4613930-michael-rosen-poems-hmd

We are fundraising to support the plight of refugees today so please donate to one of two Cambridge charities, CamCRAG or CECF Cambridge Refugee Hardship Fund.

CamCRAG is a registered charity (1170180) who send regular convoys of volunteers and aid from the Cambridge region to help refugees in Europe. We collect donations, hold fundraising events, fund projects overseas and raise awareness of the refugee crisis.

You can donate to CamCRAG’s general funds by text message, online via Kindlink, or through Facebook. Donate £5 now by texting CAMCRAG to 70085. You can donate any other amount from £1 to £20 by sending an SMS with the message CAMCRAG followed by the amount – e.g. CAMCRAG 20 would be a £20 donation

Donate through facebook = FACEBOOK donation page for CamCRAG

Donate on Kindlink = KINDLINK donation page for CamCRAG

If you would rather arrange a bank transfer please email to treasurer@camcrag.org.uk

CECF CAMBRIDGE ETHNIC COMMUNITY FORUM REFUGEE HARDSHIP FUND

The Cambridge Refugee Hardship Fund helps recently settled refugees to Cambridge and during the pandemic is also supporting a growing number of destitute asylum seekers.

Donate through facebook = FACEBOOK page for CECF for refugees & asylum seekers

Donations can be made by transfer to CECF Lloyds Bank Acct 30-13-55 Acct number 02959873, or by cheque and gift forms are available on request if you contact us via www.cecf.co.uk