Remembering Through Light: Yom HaShoah and the Yellow Candle UK Initiative

As we mark Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Memorial Day – the Derbyshire Jewish Community is proud to participate in the Yellow Candle UK initiative, a poignant act of remembrance for the six million Jews murdered in the Shoah.

Each year, Yellow Candle UK distributes thousands of memorial candles across the UK, each accompanied by a card bearing the name, age, and place of death of a Holocaust victim. These candles are lit on the evening of Yom HaShoah, symbolising the lives extinguished during this darkest chapter of our history. The light serves not only as a tribute, but as a call to remember, to educate, and to ensure that ‘Never Again’ is more than a slogan — it is a promise.

This initiative is especially meaningful for our community here in Derbyshire. As a small but committed Jewish presence, we unite with Jewish communities across the country to bear witness, to say the names of those who were lost, and to honour them in the quiet glow of remembrance.

Below, you will find the details of the individuals we are remembering this year — names assigned to members of our community as part of the Yellow Candle UK programme. We encourage everyone to read each name, reflect on each life, and share this act of memory with friends and family.

Together, we shine a light in the darkness.

• Matilda Aladzem of Bulgaria, murdered at Dupnitsa, Bulgaria in 1942, aged 77

  
  

• Mati Aladzem of Bulgaria, murdered at Dupnitsa, Bulgaria in 1942, aged 31

  
  

• Eti Akselrad of Poland, murdered at Jagielnica, Poland in 1942, aged 19

  
  

• Tankhum Akselrod of USSR, murdered at Sinyavino, Leningrad, Russia (USSR) in 1942, aged 35

  
  

• Viola Sperl of Rimavská Sobota, murdered at Rimavská Sobota in 1944, aged 12

  
  

• Eliezer Sznaiderman of Lodz, Poland, murdered in 1942, aged 39

  
  

• Michael Kisch of Stryj, Poland, murdered in 1942, aged 39

  
  

• Maryla Wohl of Krzemieniec, murdered at unknown location in 1943, aged 18

  
  

• Channe Klapper of Ulanow, murdered at unknown location in 1942, aged 30

  
  

• Gersh Kopanski of Romania, murdered at Voronezh, Russia (USSR) in 1943, aged 34

  
  

• Leibisz Kop of Turobin, Poland, murdered at Turobin in 1942, aged 50

  
  

• Hermin Stern of Kiszwardo, Hungary, murdered at Auschwitz in 1944, aged 39

  
  

• Mozes Adelsbergen van of unknown, murdered at Sobibor in 1943, aged 31

  
  

• Louna Malah of Saloniki, murdered at unknown location in 1944, aged 4

  
  

• Bentzion Malamud of USSR, murdered at Chernivtsy, Vinnitsa, Ukraine (USSR) in 1941, aged 44

  
  

• Claudine Malach of Paris, murdered at Auschwitz in 1943, aged 4

  
  

• Luna Malach of Greece, murdered at Auschwitz, Poland in 1942, aged 42