Holocaust Memorial Day: Oxford students create candleholder
"It reinforced how vital it is to keep these stories alive and ensure they resonate with future generations," she said.
The project was inspired by the life of Holocaust survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch MBE, a renowned cellist who survived Auschwitz due to her musical talent.Students aged 13 to 15 explored her story through a creative workshop in October, and then decorated 10 glass candleholders.Designs included shattered glass, musical symbols and depictions of Auschwitz.The pieces will be displayed on a decorative stand and lit during the Mayor of Oxford's Holocaust Memorial Day service on Monday.The service will take place at midday in the Assembly Room in Oxford Town Hall. Members of the public are invited to attend.Mayor Mike Rowley said the service was an opportunity for the community to "come together and remember the past"."Peace, tolerance and understanding continue to be more important than ever," he said."The young people from Cheney School and the Museum of Oxford have created something truly special, and their invitation to meet the King at Buckingham palace is a remarkable recognition of their thoughtful work."Their candleholder will stand as a symbol of hope and remembrance, showing how history and art can challenge hatred and inspire reflection."
You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, external, X (Twitter), external, or Instagram, external.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Hostage: 'Playing the Prime Minister 'changes your perception' of politics' says Suranne Jones
Actress Suranne Jones has taken on the role of many women under immense pressure. In Doctor Foster she suspects her husband of having an affair, in Vigil she investigates a death on board a submarine, and in Gentleman Jack she develops a dangerous lesbian romance. But none of the roles are quite as pressured as her latest - playing a British prime minister whose husband is kidnapped. Hostage, Netflix's new political thriller, sees Jones' character, Abigail Dalton, build an uneasy alliance with French President Vivienne Toussaint - played by Julie Delpy - who is being blackmailed during a London two leaders work together in order to rescue the PM's husband, unmask the kidnapper and blackmailer, and bring those responsible to justice. 'Political with a small p' Given its themes of immigration, the funding of the NHS and public trust, audiences may be tempted to connect Hostage to today's headlines. But, both stars insist the show is less about mirroring today's politics and more about creating a thrilling story set in the political world. "We're entertaining and we're in the political world, but it's in no way a reflection of the world we live in," Jones tells the BBC."It's political with a small p - there's enough that roots us in the real world but the world is too complicated to link it directly and I think it would be inappropriate." Delpy agrees and says: "Things change every day. It's impossible to be in the political moment because tomorrow is something else."The show's writer, Matt Charman, explains that there are some connections to the real world as it's "impossible to write a show that exists in the climate we live in that doesn't end up feeling that it's in dialogue with it". "If you wrote a show that isn't connected to our world it would feel weird," he says, "but I hope the show does have the ability to exist in its own oxygen." It is rare to see two female world leaders sharing the spotlight in a political thriller, but, for Charman, making sure Dalton and Toussaint were women was integral to the way the series was conceived and it was both a creative and political choice. "What was exciting was the idea of women in power and how we explore that," he says, explaining that he tried to explore how each situation the characters face would be different for a woman. "There's a double standard for women, so giving full dramatic freedom to that was very important." Charman and Jones have shared an agent for the past 10 years and Hostage came about because Charman really wanted to work with Jones and the pair settled on creating a political thriller. Jones says she particularly enjoyed exploring "how these two women have to dance around each other"."A female politician is used to dealing with men so it's interesting to see how it plays out when it's two women." While viewers quickly learn about Jones' character - a loving wife and mother who is idealistic about bettering the country - Delpy's character is more drawn out and our opinion of her changes throughout the show."We made sure not to play into the female politician stereotypes," Delpy say. "What I like is that these women actually have some things in common like they both want change and came into office hopeful." The Guardian describe Hostage as "quite unusual" in that it doesn't remind you of any other political thrillers. "It's a little biting but it's not House of Cards cynical, it has a breakneck pace but it's not 24, the dialogue is sharp but never played for laughs," Zoe Williams writes. 'Cost of being in power' To play Dalton convincingly, Jones, who also served as an executive producer on the show, says she really immersed herself in the reality of political life. She visited the House of Commons, spoke to the Speaker of the House and devoured books, podcasts and documentaries. "I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to research," she admits. "I was fascinated by not emulating anyone but by understanding a life I knew nothing about. And it's the cost of being in a powerful position in that way that really struck me."Charman also talks about the extraordinary amount of research that went into creating the show. I ask him whether Dalton or Toussaint were inspired by any real life politicians and he confesses that they are, but he won't say who. "We interviewed a lot of people and Suranne had incredible access to people who had been prime minister who talked about their time in office and the pressure on their family. But it was all agreed that they would speak about this as long as it could remain confidential," he says. Jones won't say which politicians inspired her character but says all of her previous characters are a part of her and she has "a boardroom of personalities" which feed into who she plays. She says all the research into what it's like to be a politician "changes your perception for sure" and makes you realise "the cost of being in a powerful position". One question the show raises is whether or not it's possible for a politician today to stick to their ideals once they come into office and while Jones is unsure, Charman is an optimist. "I wanted to explore how there can be decent people in politics who are fundamentally good but get pushed around," he says. He adds that it's not "inevitable" that people give up their ideals once in office, but "it's definitely tough to keep your morals". Above the thrills and drama of Hostage, Charman says the show explores "what it takes to be a good person in a system that doesn't always reward good people."Delpy is slightly more pessimistic and explains that given "politicians have to be heard, if you're too reasonable you won't be listened to as there's so much noise of both extremes"."If you have a moderate view you get lost in the noise as people are only listening to the loudest."
The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Hostage review: Political thriller sets bonkers bar high
*** Channel 4 was understandably delighted this week to acquire Sherlock creator Steven Moffat's Number 10, a drama set in what its makers dub 'the only terrace house in history with mice and a nuclear deterrent'. Let the record show, however, that Suranne Jones got there first with Hostage. There have been Downing Street thrillers before Netflix's latest, and there will be more after, starting with Moffat's, but Hostage sets the bonkers bar impressively high. Jones plays British Prime Minister Abigail Dalton. The Dalton government is beset by crises, chief among them a shortage of cancer drugs. To top it all, the PM's teenage daughter has been out on the town with mates, and the French president is coming round to tell Dalton off for being soft on migrants. Madame President is played, rather magnificently, by Julie Delpy, bona fide French cinema goddess/writer/director. What a hoot it is to see her character waft into Downing Street, a right-winger ready to do battle with Dalton's seemingly soppy liberal. But what do you know: fate has brought these two alpha women together for a reason, or reasons, that will emerge over five episodes. Created and written by Matt Charman (Bridge of Spies), it is almost impossible to say more about the plot of Hostage because the series relies so heavily on killer twists and handbrake turns. I'm convinced Netflix and the other streamers have secret labs somewhere churning out plot surprises, the crazier the better, and there are some doozies here. Best to consider the title a clue and take it from there. Read more: With all this high-octane mayhem going on, Hostage needs its ballast. Lending Jones and Delpy a hand are James Cosmo as the Prime Minister's dad (complete with a north of England accent to match his screen daughter), Lucian Msamati (Conclave, Gangs of London) as her chief of staff, and Ashley Thomas as her doctor husband. Jones and Delpy do most to smooth the rough edges, and there are a few. The Downing Street in Hostage has the smallest press pack I've ever seen. They look more like a bus queue than a posse of reporters. Some of the dialogue sounds like a beginner's guide to British politics. And if you want a drinking game, take a gulp for every time Dalton kicks her heels off to signal how fed up she is with keeping up appearances when her world is crumbling. Jones is an executive producer on Hostage. What a distance she's come since playing one of Steve McDonald's many wives in Coronation Street. Doctor Foster made her a small-screen A-lister, and from then on she had her pick of parts. Not everything has gone her way - HBO fell out of love with period drama Gentleman Jack - but the successes, including the Scotland-set police thriller Vigil - have kept coming. Now she's an industry player in her own right, her name enough to carry a series, nationally and internationally. Real-life Prime Ministers should watch and learn.
Daily Mirror
16 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
You could be richer with tiny detail on rare £2 coin worth hundreds of pounds
Finding one small minting error on a £2 coin could mean it sells for more than 60 times its value to collectors. So do you have this special piece lurking in your wallets? Rare coins are all the rage at the moment, but have you got this particular £2 piece in your pocket? It's always a good idea to rummage through your coin stash - you never know what treasures might be lurking. One lucky person hit the jackpot when he discovered the UK's rarest 50p coin, featuring an Atlantic Salmon design and King Charles III on the reverse, tucked away in his collection. These coveted coins are now fetching big sums, with one changing hands on eBay for a tidy £153 last year. But TikTok fans went wild with talks of another coin to keep an eye out for - a £2 coin that fetched hundreds under the hammer. TikTok user @CoinCollectingWizard, who boasts a following of 191,400, highlighted a 2016 Shakespeare's Tragedies £2 coin that sold for an impressive £123, approximately 60 times its face value. These coins were minted to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death. The set is made up of three coins, each celebrating a different genre of Shakespeare's oeuvre – tragedies, comedies, and histories. So, what makes this coin so special? The user explained: "It's a hard to spot error affecting the edge of the coin that has attracted interest from collectors. "Instead of the standard edge inscription, which should read, 'What a piece of work is a man', this one has the words from another £2 coin around the edge. Mint errors like this one can add significant value to common coins." It's worth noting the error coin will bear the edge inscription 'for king and country'. Rare coin collector shares six valuable designs that could be worth up to £200k Several £2 coins are known to have the wrong edge inscription, with the mistake being an edge intended for a different coin minted in the same year. The revelation, shared in a video two days ago, has already garnered over 200 likes and numerous comments.
