Featured

Our articles

All the articles we have published are listed below, from the most recent first:

Why Community Solidarity Stroud District campaigned against the recent sale of Nazi memorabilia in Stroud

Content warning: this piece features imagery of Nazi Memorabilia and references to Neo-Nazis and their views and violent actions.

Background

People outside Harper Field auctioneers with placards reading "No to profiting from the Holocaust", "Naziism is not a Curiosity", and "No profit from Nazi Memorabilia"

In January 2026 local auction house Harper Field listed for sale a large number of Third Reich/Nazi items, a significant number of which were reproductions. Individuals and organisations approached Harper Field privately to ask the company to remove the items from sale. The company refused to do so and claimed not to sell replicas. On the Saturday before the sale Community Solidarity Stroud District sent the auction house a letter signed by a number of people asking it not to proceed. Since publishing the letter, many more people asked that their name be added to it (132 was the final total collected). 

Community Solidarity Stroud District letter to Harper Field

Harper Field sent us a copy of the Prohibited and Restricted items policy and claimed to be operating in accordance with this. This policy applies to all auctions listed on The Saleroom (part of the Auction Technology Group), the international on-line platform for auctions. Prohibited items include “Nazi Artefacts unless established as legitimate historical artefacts.” Harper Field had listed many items as reproductions, see images below.

It is a relief to know that The Saleroom/ATG not only has a flagging system which identifies restricted and prohibited items listed on its site, but also takes action to enforce the policy and did so in respect of Harper Field. The sale was cancelled on 10th February.

screenshot of Harper Field website showing "Lot 194 Quantity of Third Reich / Nazi German badges, pins, tinnes, etc, some reproductions"

The above examples were not isolated but we do not wish to publish every example here. The screenshot below, from the BBC coverage of our campaign, shows an array of print-outs of lots described as containing reproductions:

Nazi memorabilia and Far Right Violence

We have said that Nazi and Third Reich artefacts should be in museums or educational establishments. We want to engage with this history seriously and learn from it – private collections are not a means for people to do this. Instead, the sale of Nazi artefacts, and reproductions in particular, feeds a desire by some people to collect items that are connected to their ideology. We are not saying that everyone who owns any items of Nazi memorabilia will go on to engage in violence or terrorism. But of the neo-Nazis who have engaged in violence/terrorism, it is very common that they are found to have stashes of memorabilia. Hopefully this makes clear why we are concerned that such material is traded in auctions rather than kept in musuems for historic interest.

The links between the far right and terrorism were highlighted by MI5 in October 2024, with Director General Ken McCallum saying that, of its counter terrorism work, the focus is “25% extreme right-wing terrorism“.

To provide only a few examples, the following people convicted of terrorism charges in the UK were collectors of Nazi propaganda.

David Copeland. In 1999 Copeland, a neo-Nazi whose bedroom was “decorated like a nazi shrine”, planted 3 bombs over a series of weeks. The first in Brixton injured 28 people; another a week later in Brick Lane injured 13 people; and the third at The Admiral Duncan pub in Soho killed 3 people and severely injured 79 more. You can read more about this case from antifascist magazine Searchlight: “25 years on: The hunt for the London nailbomber” (2024), or from the BBC: “Soho nail bomber David Copeland sentenced for prison attack” (2015).

Thomas Mair. In 2016, Mair murdered MP Jo Cox at her constituency office. “Police who later raided his house uncovered evidence of his far-right extremism. A gold Third Reich eagle ornament with a Swastika emblazoned on it, a large collection of far-right books and magazines, a press cutting on Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik, information about far right groups, Nazi badges and a “Deutschland” cap were all found in his home.” Read more about this case in The Independent, “Thomas Mair: The far-right extremist who murdered MP Jo Cox” (2016), or in The Guardian: “The slow-burning hatred that led Thomas Mair to murder Jo Cox” (2016).

Nicholas Brock. In March 2021, he was sentenced to 4 years for terrorism offences. “Police found a hoard of Nazi-era daggers, far-right literature and a framed Ku Klux Klan certificate in Nicholas Brock’s bedroom in Berkshire”, as reported by the BBC: “Maidenhead far-right ‘extremist’ jailed for terrorism offences” (2021).

Callum Parslow. In January 2025 Parslow was sentenced to life imprisonment for the attempted murder of a man seeking asylum. Thankfully his victim survived being stabbed in his chest and hand. Items in Parslow’s bedsit included “a swastika armband, a Nazi-era medallion and copies of Hitler’s book Mein Kampf”, as reported by Sky News: “Nazi-obsessed terrorist Callum Parslow jailed after trying to murder asylum seeker at Worcestershire hotel” (2025)

Peter Morgan. Morgan was jailed for 12 years in 2018 for terrorism offences. “The High Court in Edinburgh heard that Peter Morgan was in possession of bomb-making manuals as well as equipment and a selection of Neo-Nazi and other extreme right-wing paraphernalia and flags”, as reported by Scottish Legal: “Neo-Nazi in possession of explosives equipment convicted of terrorism offences” (2018).

Jack Robinson. In October 2024 Robinson was sentenced to 6 1/2 years for terrorism for terrorism offences and possessing images of children being abused. Alongside trying to make automatic weapons with a 3D printer, he also has Nazi memorabilia and a huge amount of extreme right wing material. ““Dangerous” Portsmouth man found making gun, having child images and Nazi memorabilia jailed for terrorism“, reported The News (a Portsmouth local media outlet).

Talland family.  Robert, Stephen and Rosie Talland were convicted and jailed in 2025 of terrorism offences and stirring up racial hatred. The family organised and performed at far right music events. They also had Nazi memorabilia in their home alongside CD’s and promotional material for the Neo-Nazi Blood and Honour network. In summing up, the Judge at their trial said “At the time of your offending I am satisfied that each of you had a long-standing allegiance to the neo-Nazi cause. That is most clearly evidenced by the racist and antisemitic messages, videos, memes and other materials you posted via social media.The concerts were characterised by the display of extreme right-wing symbology including Nazi flags and banners, and provided a forum for the encouragement through music of racial hatred and neo-Nazi ideology.” (read more from Sky News: “Family who used neo-Nazi music to incite racial hatred jailed“).

Jack Coulson. In July 2018 Coulson, who had a previous conviction for making a pipe bomb, was jailed for 4 years 8 months for terrorism offences. He had planned to kill a Jewish MP. His bedroom was full of Nazi memorabilia and he was a supporter of banned neo-Nazi terrorist group National Action. Read more from BBC News: “Four years for Nazi teen who downloaded terror handbook“.

Others convicted of terrorism charges where Nazi memorabilia was also found in their homes include paedophile Martyn Gilleard (16 years), Lance Corporal Mikko Vehvilainen (8 years), Mark Jones, (4 ½ years), Alice Cutter (3 years), Alan Edward (10 years), Serj Foster (4 years, Christopher Ringrose (10 years), Marco Pitzettu (8 years), Brogan Stewart (11 years) and Luke Hunter (4 years 2 months).

Another Nazi memorabilia collector, Nathan Worrell, received a 2 1/2 years sentence for stirring up racial hatred.

None of these crimes were victimless. 

Wider campaigns against profiting from the Holocaust and the Slave trade

Auction Houses such as C&T Auctions , who sell and profit from Nazi artefacts say there is a strong market for it. Yet many reputable Auction Houses including Sotheby’s, Christies and Bonhams refuse to trade in any Third Reich/Nazi artefacts. Other auction houses have also decided not to trade in these items following local campaigns. 

Germany (Section 86a Of the German detention Law), France, Hungary and Austria have banned the sale of Nazi memorabilia. Germany’s law has been tested and upheld in the European Court of Human Rights; this is not a “free speech” issue. There are concerns though that sellers and buyers get around the provisions of the legislation by claiming it is for educational purposes, research institutes and science and labelling it as such. There is no monitoring of the buyers or their motives, and no means of carrying out checks. Some campaigners in Europe are working on guidance to tighten the framework to reduce such abuses (“Fighting to stop the sale of Nazi items“, European Jewish Press).

In 2012, MPs put an early day motion calling for a ban on the sale of Nazi memorabilia following a sale at Dreweatts in Bristol. You can read the details of the EDM 2870 “SALE OF NAZI MEMORABILIA” on the Parliament website: “That this House deeply deplores the sale of dozens of items of Nazi memorabilia, including items of oppression belonging to Holocaust victims, which was held on 6 March 2012 by Dreweatts Auction House in Bristol; condemns other auctions of similar items which have been held by other firms previously; decries the profiteering on items promoting and glorifying hatred and violence; applauds the policies of such firms as Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams and eBay which prohibit the sale of such items; recognises that such sales are banned in France, Germany, Austria and Hungary; and calls on the Government to bring in immediate regulation and control of this abhorrent trade.” Our campaign in Stroud wasn’t the first and it won’t be the last.

There is a growing concern at Auction Houses selling and profiting from genocide and the slave trade. Cheeky Auctions in Ross is currently planning to sell neck shackles and chains linked to Slavery in Zanzibar.

Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said:

“If they were to be put in a museum I would understand,but buying and selling them like oddities is the same thing that people do when it comes to human remains– treating them as collector’s items, something to be fetishised rather than items that should be looked at in horror.

Why are you selling it for profit? Unless you’re trying to re-enact the history of enslavement by profiting from something used to inflict pain and oppression. We’ve got people trying give valid reasons for continuing to profit from the slave trade – that’s all it sounds like to me.” 

There is a strong argument that Nazi and slave trade items should be under public stewardship. Owners could offer and donate them directly to museums and educational establishments. For a long time people have argued that people who buy these items are historians and genuine collectors. One has to ask why? Why would you want to own a Nazi Medal, a swastika or a neck shackle and chain? There is no monitoring of the buyers or their motives. The people who sell and buy reproductions of Nazi propaganda, which was produced post-1945, cannot hide behind the description of historians. It is a vile trade and reproductions should be destroyed, not sold.

We urge everyone to challenge the sale for profit of Nazi and Slave Trade artefacts.

another photo of 8 people with placards protesting the sale of Nazi memorabilia, at Harper Field

Engaging with History

Some people have argued we want to avoid history, or brush it under the carpet. When people make this argument about ‘our history’ with regard to the involvement of the British state or British people from history in the trade of enslaved people, this is one thing. We don’t think public celebrations of slave traders help us learn about the horrors of enslavement or remind us to avoid repeating them – but perhaps there’s an argument we should see the way our society endorsed these things. But to argue that private individuals must be able to trade Nazi memorabilia and that this helps us to learn from history and not to repeat the mistakes of Naziism is quite confused.

It’s a particularly strange argument given that one of the main things we do as Community Solidarity Stroud District is hold an annual Holocaust Memorial event, doing all we can to encourage people to engage with the history of the Nazi era – and learn the lessons to prevent similar horrors today. And it is worth adding that one of the reasons we do this, and one of the reasons it is hard to hear people suggesting we want to hide the history, is because our group includes people whose families were killed by the Nazis.

We encourage anyone who wants to ‘learn from history’ to do so by visiting the Holocaust Memorial Trust website or watching videos of our previous events (see below), rather than by supporting the sale of Nazi memorabilia.

Share this on Facebook
Share on Instagram

March Together Against the Far Right – 28th March, Coaches to London demonstration from Stroud

decorative

We stand together!

This page provides details on coaches for Gloucestershire for the Together Alliance demonstration on Saturday 28th March – 12pm. Starting Point: Park Lane, Central London. More information: togetheralliance.org.uk.

“We are trade unionists and environmentalists, community activists and faith leaders, musicians, athletes, entertainers and elected representatives. And we’re marching together to show our neighbours that we’ve got their backs.”

DETAILS FOR STROUD (and for CHELTENHAM, GLOUCESTER, FOREST OF DEAN):

Stroud – tickets £15/20/30

Pick up and return to Stratford Park, 8am / 8.30pm (possible option to leave London later and arrive back 10.30pm)

More info and tickets from Stroud

Cheltenham / Gloucester

A coach will go from Cheltenham 7.30am, stopping at Gloucester and Swindon. This will be free for members of Unite, and £10 for others. Link to follow ASAP.

Forest of Dean

Tickets from the Forest are £14/20 from the following collection points:

Coleford, The Angel Hotel, 8:00 a.m.

Cinderford, opposite the Palace Cinema, 8:20 a.m.

Lydney, outside Tesco 8:45 a.m.

Forest of Dean tickets and info

Letter to Harper Field re: Nazi material being auctioned, 7th February 2026

Below you will find text of a letter sent to Mr Nick Bowkett and Harper Field this weekend, regarding their February auction. The auction was originally listed for Wednesday 11th Feb with viewings on Tuesday 10th and Wed 11th, however, “the business cancelled Wednesday’s auction and removed the Nazi artefacts from its website” following our picket outside the venue on the 11th February.

“We are writing with deep concern about your upcoming February auction. Nestled among the British and European medals and militaria are over 70 lots of various Nazi medals, armbands, pins, and other material. There appear to be hundreds of items from one of the darkest periods in European and world history. Many of the lots being sold are listed as replicas.

A few weeks ago, people in Stroud District came together to remember the Holocaust. We paid tribute to the six million Jews and millions of Slavic people, LGBTQ+, disabled people, religious minorities and others who were murdered by the Nazi regime. The sale of Nazi artefacts is an assault on their memory.


While the UK has not joined the majority of European countries that have banned the sale and display of Nazi symbols, in 2025 a major auction house in Scotland specialising in militaria took the decision to stop selling such items. They came to the conclusion that such items represent hate, terror, and suffering and are a painful reminder to those who lost family, friends and neighbours in the Holocaust. Trading in Nazi symbols trivialises and denies this cataclysmic event in our history.

We note that The Saleroom which hosts your on line auctions has a clear policy on prohibited and restricted items. We cannot see this policy on Harper Field’s website.
How is your business complying with it, particularly as you are selling replicas and have not stated any educational or historical purpose for the authentic items? We have raised this with The Saleroom.

Harper Field is making money on Nazi symbols. It is profiteering off the back of genocide, an immoral income and we think your business and the people of Stroud are better off without it. We believe the commercial trading of Nazism normalises and contributes to the rise of neo-Nazism, antisemitism, and hate which are on the rise in the UK, Europe and across the globe.

We know that you have been approached directly and asked not to proceed but thus far have declined. We ask you respectfully to reconsider your position and withdraw these items from sale and cease future sales of Nazi and SS paraphernalia.

Yours sincerely,

  1. Lynn Haanen,
  2. Caroline Beatty,
  3. Helen Elliott-Boult,
  4. Denise Needleman,
  5. Chris Hey,
  6. Julia Berg,
  7. Simon Jacobson,
  8. Rosie Wingate,
  9. Josie Cowgill,
  10. James Beecher,
  11. Imogen Shaw,
  12. Jeremy Green,
  13. Adam Horovitz,
  14. Caroline Molloy,
  15. Jacqui Stearn,
  16. Emma Calcutt,
  17. Judith Large,
  18. Pammy Michell,
  19. Paul Shevlin,
  20. Rose Harwood,
  21. Pete Harwood,
  22. Dawn Hebron,
  23. Den Donnelly,
  24. Iraina Clarke,
  25. Martin Whiteside,
  26. Liz Baldwin,
  27. Sue Fenton,
  28. Adrian Oldman,
  29. Sue Oppenheimer,
  30. Martin Gregg,
  31. Dr Kevin Ashby,
  32. Lynn Backen,
  33. Lucia Jayaseelan,
  34. Joel Levy,
  35. Kaye Welfare,
  36. Carole Oosthuysen,
  37. Natalie Rothwell-Warn,
  38. Midge Purcell,
  39. Ela Pathak-Sen,
  40. Liz Whiteside,
  41. Suzanne McKenzie,
  42. Marshall Taylor,
  43. Lis Parker,
  44. Fiona Eadie,
  45. Kim Roberts,
  46. Naomi Ryan,
  47. Veronica Koller,
  48. Jennifer Sawtell,
  49. John Miles,
  50. Liz Green,
  51. Perdita Dawson,
  52. Anne Adler,
  53. Marina Bielenky,
  54. Jude Emmett,
  55. Theresa Mansbridge,
  56. Liz Lewis,
  57. Dave Mathews,
  58. Rachel Curley,
  59. Tom Berry,
  60. Delia Parnham Cope,
  61. Katy Hofmann,
  62. Cath Moore,
  63. Maggie Dutton,
  64. Steve Robinson,
  65. Terry Cook,
  66. Chris Haynes,
  67. Terri Kinnison,
  68. Julia Wilton,
  69. Henry Wilton,
  70. Len Wilton,
  71. Mick Fealty,
  72. Adrian Davis,
  73. Andy MacCulloch,
  74. Elizabeth Stanley,
  75. Graham Stanley,
  76. Sarah Coldrick,
  77. Sue Colverd,
  78. Annie Fallows,
  79. Pete Fallows,
  80. Lidia Cabello,
  81. Tony Burton,
  82. Anne Fredrick,
  83. Peter Twyman,
  84. Gina Mann,
  85. Adam Beard,
  86. Margaret Lear,
  87. Holly Antrum,
  88. Jack Southern,
  89. Michele Lazarus,
  90. Julie Cigman,
  91. Amanda Sultan,
  92. Roberta Hollingshead,
  93. Tree Staunton,
  94. Mandy Bell,
  95. Jon Robinson,
  96. Professor Adrian C Davis OBE,
  97. Caroline Simpson,
  98. Steve Lydon,
  99. Jamila Gavin,
  100. Milly Hill,
  101. Fraser Dahdouh,
  102. Bob Blenkinsop,
  103. Paula Hogard,
  104. Alison Kearin,
  105. Haydee Roberts,
  106. Philip Willmott,
  107. David Huband,
  108. Anne Cooper,
  109. Richard Styles,
  110. Linda Pace,
  111. Simon Dryer,
  112. Kate Kevett,
  113. Ali Coles,
  114. Ben Spencer,
  115. Nicky Rawson,
  116. Mike Davis,
  117. Paula Hogard,
  118. Lors Elenway,
  119. Kathy Trevelyan,
  120. Nicky Turner,
  121. Emily Joy,
  122. Fiona Stuart,
  123. Chris Stockwell,
  124. Martin Stockwell,
  125. Sam Gowing,
  126. Rachel Witham,
  127. David Humphrey,
  128. John Dougherty,
  129. Sarah O’Flynn,
  130. Eric Lang,
  131. Jackie Needleman
  132. Mary Hardman

The letter was sent with around 30 signatories originally, other names have been added since.

CC: The Saleroom by email

Letter to Harper Field 07.02.26Download

Who are we:

Community Solidarity Stroud District exists to build community led solidarity in the Stroud district to oppose the hatred of minorities and oppressed people arising from false and harmful information.

Contact us
Facebook page
Instagram account

Holocaust Memorial Day event in Stroud, Sunday 25th January 2026

From 2-3pm 25th January 2026 Community Solidarity Stroud District held our annual Holocaust Memorial Day event at Lansdown Hall. Here we reproduce the programme, videos of speeches (and text of these where possible).

Programme

The international theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2026 is ‘Bridging the Generations’

Arrival music by The Stroud Red Band

Welcome by Adam Horovitz, poet and member of Community Solidarity Stroud District. Adam is presenting today’s Holocaust Memorial Day event.

Jeremy Green from Stroud Red Band and Community Solidarity Stroud District will introduce, Zog Nicht Keyn Mol, the first piece of music for Stroud HMD Event.

Speakers

  • Julia Wilton, Stroud Trades Council
  • Denise Needleman, Community Solidarity Stroud District
  • Baron Mendes da Costa, Three Counties Liberal Jewish Community will say Kaddish, the Jewish mourning prayer
  • Rev James Turk, representing Churches Together in Stroud
  • Mustafa Davies, Stroud Muslim Prayer Hall
  • Shelley Rider, Three Counties Liberal Jewish Community – poem about Anne Frank
  • Mohammed Elsharif, Sudanese Community Activist

Music – The Stroud Red Band – ‘Einheitsfrontlied’ (United Front Song)

Speakers

  • Simon Opher- Member of Parliament
  • Charlotte Levene, Na’amod Gloucestershire
  • Alice Jolly, local author of ’The Matchbox Girl’
  • Sue Oppenheimer, Stroud Together with Refugees
  • Freddie Janke, Stroud Against Racism
  • Teddy, Radical Youth Space for Education (RYSE)

Adam Horovitz – close

The Red Band will play ‘The Internationale’.

Videos

Livestream recording of event

This video is the recording of a livestream made from Community Solidarity Stroud District’s annual Holocaust Memorial Day event, held in 2026 on Sunday 25th January. Sadly the opening of the event is missing from the recording due to technical difficulties, but this video features the speakers from Denise Needleman onwards.

Text of speech by Mustafa Davies, Stroud Muslim Prayer Hall

I begin with a greeting of peace.

Thank you for inviting me to join you today. Holocaust Memorial Day asks us not only to remember the victims of history’s darkest crimes, but to reflect honestly on what remembrance demands of us now.

The Holocaust stands as horrible reminder of what can happen when law, morality and empathy collapse. Genocide does not begin with gas chambers. It begins with apathy, indifference to creeping discrimination, and a passive acceptance of abuse of power at the highest levels.

The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, offered a powerful image of mutual responsibility. He said: “The example of those who uphold God’s limits and those who violate them is like people who board a ship. Some take places on the upper deck and others on the lower deck. When they need water, those below say, ‘If we make a hole in our part of the ship, we will not disturb those above us.’ If they do what they want, everyone will be drowned. But if they are stopped, all will be saved.”

This is not an abstract metaphor – the ship exists to get somewhere with everyone on board, whether we chose each other or not. The consequences of apathy in the face of injustice are shared by everyone.

Islamic values are rooted in shared humanity and equality. Allah says in the Qur’an: “O humanity, We created you from a single male and female and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another. Truly, the most honoured of you in the sight of God is the most righteous.”

The goal is righteousness. No individual or state stands above legal and moral accountability.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, reinforced this when he said: “The believers are like a single body, in their compassion and mercy. If one part suffers, the whole body suffers.”

This poem by the Persian poet, Sa’adi, is inscribed on the gates of the United Nations:

Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
Other members uneasy will remain.
If another is hurting and you feel no distress,
Then “human” is a title you should not possess.

These teachings do not allow selective empathy. Pain in one of us hurts all of us.

We live in the present, not the past. Today’s remembrance takes place against the backdrop of ongoing suffering, death and destruction in Palestine and other places. The world is watching it happen. “Never again” must mean never again for Fatima, Ahmed and Hind.

So today, remembrance is not passive. It is a moral demand that asks us to speak up before the hole is drilled and we all go down.

Thank you.

Video of speech by Alice Jolly – local author of ’The Matchbox Girl’

Text of speech by Alice Jolly

Good afternoon everyone. I recently published a book called ‘The Matchbox Girl’ which is partly about some of the lesser known victims of the Nazi holocaust. Today I am going to tell you the story of Anni Wödl and her son Alfred.

So Anni was a nurse in Vienna and her son Alfred was born in 1934. Anni said that she always knew that Alfred was different and that he would not have the life that other children have. However, she said that he was a very happy little boy.

As you know, the Nazis annexed Austria on 12 March 1938. At that time Alfred (then age 3) was housed in a place called the Gugging Institute. In 1940 Anni became concerned because she had heard rumours of so-called euthanasia.

She met with other parents. Some had received notices of the death of their child due to ‘war time measures’ after the child had been transferred.
Anni decided to take action. She travelled from Vienna to Berlin and secured a meeting with Hermann Linden at the Reich Ministry of the Interior.

Hermann Linden did not deny the so-called euthanasia.
Women such as Anni were selfish, they were being cruel to their children, they were letting down the Reich. Children such as Alfred were ‘useless eaters.’

    In January 1941 Anni heard that Alfred was to be transported to Hartheim. Once again, she travelled to Berlin and secured a meeting with Hermann Linden who conceded that Alfred would not go to Hartheim.

    Instead he would be transferred to a new unit called Am Speilgelgrund within the Steinhof Mental Hospital in Vienna. However, he must die.

    Anni went to see Erwin Jekelius (later known as ‘The Mass Murderer of The Steinhof). Anni said, ‘I begged Dr Jekelius that, if the death of my child could not be stopped, that it be quick and painless. He promised me this.’

    Alfred was murdered on 22 February 1941, five days after Anni had last visited him. The official cause of death was ‘pneumonia.’

    On seeing Alfred’s corpse, Anni was struck by the look of pain on his face.
    Alfred was one of 789 children who died by lethal injection or starvation at Am Speigelgrund.

    The brains of those children were stored in bottles in the basement of the hospital.

    It was not until 2001 that the brains were buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery. A memorial lists the names of the children.

    I am lucky enough to have been to that memorial, to lay flowers and to contemplate the horror of these losses.

    These deaths were part of what was known as Aktion T4 which took place before the later systematic destruction of the Jewish community. Effectively, Aktion T4 was the dry run for the Holocaust.

    Vienna now remembers Alfred. Here in Stroud we also remember him and how happy he was. We also honour Anni’s amazing courage.

    There is one small light in this darkness. There is a Stolperstein to Alfred. I expect you know that a Stolperstein is ‘a stumbling stone.’ A little brass plaque which is built into the pavement at the last place where the victims freely resided.
    Next time I go to Vienna I will visit Alfred’s Stolperstein and tell him that Stroud does not forget.

    Text of speech by Teddy from The RYSE

    Hello. I’m here on behalf of the RYSE. Thank you for inviting me.

    Being here with you all today, I know that whatever I could say about the tragedy of the holocaust could only be achingly inadequate.
    There is nothing I can say to recognise the depth and width of the tragedy, or understand the way it feels to live with the ongoing pain that is its legacy.

    There are so many and so much that was lost.
    And as a young person of today, trying to figure out how to orient to a world still so full of such genocide and destruction, I look back.
    And I find so much strength in the few stories I know.

    Of those like Sophie Scholl who was executed at 21 for organising youth against Nazism.

    Some of her last words are said to have been:

    “How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause. … It is such a splendid sunny day, and I have to go. But how many have to die on the battlefield in these days, how many young, promising lives. What does my death matter if by our acts thousands are warned and alerted. Among the student body there will certainly be a revolt”

    We hear in this, the power of youth. It is so often youth who are the first and fiercest to give their bodies to stand up against injustice.

    And we youth need the olders.
    For us to live “never forget” and “never again” we need intergenerational relationships.

    We need the olders to remember, to tell stories, to share the past and its wisdom with us, to support us, and to hold us to account when we are shortsighted.
    And the olders need us youngers, to shape the future with our energy, to act with the indignation and idealism, courage and hope, that so often comes with the youth.

    The stories of the holocaust are full of such brave people

    of those who’s courage burned brighter than their fear, who’s love and conviction called them to do things for the greater good no matter the personal expense, and in them I find the guidance I need to be what the world needs of me today, or at least to try

    These ancestors teach us what “never again” really means.
    Because it is not just a slogan.
    The holocaust was a tragedy that bears no comparison, and yet, it was not the first or last pogrom.
    It wasn’t an isolated incident that came out of nowhere, and the conditions that created it did not vanish.

    They say fascism is the face that colonialism wears at home.

    We cannot separate fascism from imperialism.
    And imperialism has got it’s claws round all our throats in a choke hold.

    As long as imperialism continues, we will continue to see genocides across the world, until capitalist imperialism eats itself and kills us all by destroying the earth.

    We don’t just say never forget and never again, we live those things as tenets that direct our actions, every day.

    We keep reminding each other, keep holding each other responsible for creating peace and justice on this earth.

    We show up to oppose the racist protests happening outside asylum seeker hotels in Gloucester and Cheltenham.

    We fight for the rights of our neighbours, and don’t let anyone be made into the scapegoat for the crimes of the rich.

    We do all we can to figure out together, how we are going to take apart all empire all over the earth, and build a world together that all our children would be proud of.

    We talk about ancestors of blood, but we also have ancestors of struggle, of our common cause. May we all join together as future ancestors in this lineage

    In the names of our brave and precious ancestors, may they rest in glory, and we find our strength in them.

    Thank you

    Who are we:

    Community Solidarity Stroud District exists to build community led solidarity in the Stroud district to oppose the hatred of minorities and oppressed people arising from false and harmful information.

    Contact us
    Facebook page
    Instagram account
    decorative

    A Message of Unity from the Children of Abraham

    We, a Progressive Jewish Rabbi, a Pioneer Priest and regional Inter Faith Adviser in the Stroud Anglican Team, and a trustee of the Stroud District Islamic Centre, stand together today not merely as representatives of our respective faiths, but as grieving human beings united in horror and sorrow.

    The atrocity committed at Bondi Beach, targeting families gathered for the festival of Hanukkah, was an assault on the very sanctity of life. To murder innocent people during a celebration of light is an act of profound darkness. We mourn the lives stolen, we pray for the healing of the wounded, and we extend our deepest love to the Jewish community in Australia and around the world who are once again reeling from the trauma of antisemitic violence.

    We are compelled to speak with one voice because the intent of terror is to divide us. The gunmen sought to sow fear and hatred between our communities; we refuse to give them that victory.

    To our Jewish brothers and sisters: We see your pain. We acknowledge the terrifying rise in antisemitism that has led to this moment. You are not alone. We stand around you as a shield of friendship and solidarity.

    To our Muslim brothers and sisters: We affirm that such acts of violence are a betrayal of true faith. We stand firm against any retaliatory Islamophobia that seeks to blame an entire community for the crimes of a few.

    To all people of good will: We call upon you to resist the pull of polarization and to stand together against oppression and injustice. Do not let this tragedy harden your hearts against your neighbours. In the face of those who wish to spread hatred and conflict, our most powerful weapon is our unity.

    Let us be the light that defies the darkness.

    Mustafa Davies
    Trustee, Stroud District Islamic Center

    Rabbi Anna Gerrard,
    Three Counties Liberal Jewish Community

    Rev Simon Howell,
    Stroud Parish Churches/Gloucester Diocese

    Chanukah killings, Bondi Beach

    At the start of the Chanukah celebrations on Sunday on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, a 10-year-old little girl called Matilda, her face freshly painted with sea shells and a dolphin, was chosen by a gunman as his next target. A little girl. Out with her family and friends celebrating a holiday with her family and friends. She was one of 15 people killed and 26 people seriously injured. Alexander Kletyman was also killed. He and his family knew what that kind of ‘being chosen’ means. Alexander was a survivor of The Holocaust. 

    It wasn’t just a holiday. It was a Jewish holiday where Jews come together to celebrate the festival of lights – Chanukah. The killings were antisemitic murders, planned and organised. 

    In the hours and days that have followed these terrible shootings, conspiracy theories have abounded. As have the excuses, the justifications, even the celebrations – in short, an outpouring of online antisemitism. And, also troubling, silence from too many friends and comrades. In the days and weeks to come, we will do what we can – as is the purpose of our organisation – to challenge racism, antisemitism and hate-filled conspiracy theories, and to break that silence.

    We mourn the victims, and send love to our Jewish friends following our work at Community Solidarity Stroud District, and thank the friends who have reached out to some of us privately. We welcome the following statements released by local organisations, and those from Na’amod UK and Rabbis for Ceasefire, and encourage our supporters to read and share them:

    Sandi Adams and antisemitism (again)

    Project Libertas, the Stroud based organisation that last year booked Holocaust Denier John Hamer to speak on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and to celebrate Hitler’s birthday, have booked Sandi Adams again to speak at the Old Convent on 28th November 2025.

    Sandi Adams is no stranger to Stroud.  Many Stroud residents were concerned at her speaking at an anti-lockdown rally in 2020 where she promoted her conspiracy theories about COVID-19.

    She was booked to speak at the Old Convent last year and was angry that her antisemitism was called out.

    Sandi Adams doesn’t want to be associated with the views posted on her website.  She claims that she is not antisemitic and that a previous business colleague posted antisemitic material on her website, which she since removed. We have no difficulty accepting her version of events in respect of this. 

    However, Sandi Adams continues to host antisemitic conspiracy films on her website. There is no ambiguity in the sub-title of the film “The Crucifixion Of Russia- Bolshevism & the strategy of divide and conquer”. A few seconds into the film and its true title is revealed: “The Jewish Crucifixion Of Russia” (still on her website 25th November 2025 – when the screenshot below was taken, the link is to Internet Archive record from 11th October 2025). 

    Adams also promotes blatantly antisemitic conspiracies in an article ‘The World Order – How It Works (there’s nothing particularly new about it!’) on her website (again, still on her website 25th November 2025, link is to Internet Archive record from 11th October 2025). This article begins with a quote from Eustace Mullins, an American white supremacist, antisemite, Holocaust denier and conspiracy propagandist. We first raised these two examples in our article published in February 2023. Why has Sandi Adams not removed these pages from her website over two years later? The removal of other pages we raised as an issue shows she can – why not in these cases?

    Given she says it was her previous business colleague’s fault that some antisemitic material was on her website, we can only conclude that she is responsible for its current content and is happy to host it. Would you trust someone who says they have removed the antisemitic content on their website but leaves these examples for years?

    Adams also explained her position on free speech in an email to Community Solidarity Stroud District on 11th October 2024. She was concerned that calling out the antisemitism on her website attempted to interfere with a positive business relationship. She said: “I trust this clarifies for you my position on the matter, and now that you are fully informed may I remind you that any further tort of defamation would be proven by public presentations or dissemination of information by email on your part that further defamed, either directly or indirectly, my character and views.” 

    We are fully informed by Sandi Adams’ own website that she continues to promote and support antisemitism. We will continue to use our right to freedom of speech to point this out.

    We again call upon The Old Convent to reconsider accepting this booking and ask why its owners are happy to promote antisemitism and racism.

    As we’ve said before, Sandi Adams’ theories about Agenda 21 / Agenda 2030 are dodgy too. “In fact, “Agenda 21 was a non-binding planning paper, adopted by the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. It is not a treaty. It has no force of law, no penalties, and no significant funding. It sought to encourage communities around the world to come up with their own solutions to environmental problems rather than to impose them. In the decades since, right-wing groups in the US like the John Birch Society, have claimed that this document is a blueprint for a totalitarian world government – but people who care about our environment shouldn’t be fooled.”

    The Project Libertas event will feature – alongside Sandi Adams – Mike Yeadon and Ben Rubin. Yeadon claimed in April 2021 that recipients of the “top-up” booster COVID-19 vaccines will die within two years. It’s now over 4 years since this prediction and while there have been a some tragic deaths and some people have experienced damage as a result of these vaccines, there is no indication of the “mass depopulation” event claimed by Yeadon. To the contrary, even conservative estimates suggest “COVID-19 vaccinations averted 2.5 million deaths during 2020-2024 (sensitivity range estimates, 1.4-4.0 million) and saved 15 million life-years (sensitivity range estimates, 7-24 million life-years)”.

    This isn’t the only bizarre and false conspiracy theory Yeadon pushed about the pandemic – “many of the claims he made were unfounded and lacked scientific or empirical evidence”. However, he used his position as a former Pfizer employee to persuade audiences he was an authoritative source. In reality, “Yeadon worked in a drug discovery research unit at Pfizer that worked on allergy and respiratory medical research. The division he ran had nothing to do with vaccines or infectious disease“. His record of baseless claims and failed predictions shouldn’t be a cause to give him further opportunities to propagandise and trick people.

    Ben Rubin will speak in his capacity as writer and broadcaster for a website rated as “a strong right-wing biased conspiracy website that frequently promotes false or misleading information”, known as the UK Column. This is the MediaBiasFactCheck summary.

    Read more about Sandi Adams here

    Who are Community Solidarity Stroud District?

    Community Solidarity Stroud District exists to build community led solidarity in the Stroud district to oppose the hatred of minorities and oppressed people arising from false and harmful information.

    Save the Date – community counter-protest, Cheltenham, Saturday 13th December 2025

    The local far right “Patriots” are once again intending to hold an intimidating protest outside a hotel housing people seeking asylum.

    This time, they are targeting the Citrus Hotel in Cheltenham.

    They say they’ll be there from 1pm on Saturday 13th December – but we’ll be there to outnumber them once again!

    More information to follow ASAP, for now please save the date, share and let friends, fellow workers, and neighbours know!

    Join the Gloucestershire Solidarity Network WhatsApp Channel for updates
    decorative
    Share on Instagram
    Share on Facebook
    Visit the Gloucestershire Solidarity Network website
    Join the Gloucestershire Solidarity Network WhatsApp Channel for updates

    Save the Date – community counter-protest, Gloucester Sunday 2nd November 2025

    The “Patriots of Gloucestershire” and far-right groups they have been working with like Patriotic Alterntive have announced today that they intend to protest outside the Ibis hotel in Gloucester again on November 2nd, from 1-4pm. Together with other organisations in the Gloucestershire Solidarity Network, we’ll be organising a community counter-protest again, please save the date!

    Join the Gloucestershire Solidarity Network WhatsApp Channel for updates
    SAVE THE DATE - Community counter-protest. Ibis Hotel, Gloucester GL4 3DG, Sunday 2nd Nov 1-4pm. Join communities from across Gloucestershire to stand with people seeking asylum at the Ibis Hotel in Gloucester. Together we rise against division and racism.
    Join the Gloucestershire Solidarity Network WhatsApp Channel for updates

    “Whosoever destroys one soul, it is as if he had destroyed the entire world”

    Jeremy from The Stroud Red Band speaks at the Stroud Ceasefire Now Coalition vigil at Wallbridge, Friday 10th October 2025. The vigil meets every Friday from 6-6.20pm. You can watch or read the speech in full below. We have included some clips of Karen Coldrick singing with the Band.

    As well as the Red Band, the coalition includes us at Community Solidarity Stroud District, Stroud Against Racism, Stroud District Together With Refugees, Palestine Solidarity Campaign – Stroud District, Na’amod Gloucestershire, Nailsworth Quakers, Stroud Quakers, Parents for Future – Stroud, and The RYSE. If your group would like to join the coalition, please approach one of the organisers at the end of a weekly vigil.

    Share on Facebook
    Video on Instagram – please share to stories

    Speech transcript

    Friends, it falls to me to open the vigil tonight as we enter into our third year of standing here to bear witness to the slaughter in Gaza and call for a permanent just peace between Israelis and Palestinians. As ever, one of the Ceasefire Coalition partners will say a few words, and then we’ll have fifteen minutes of silence, and then I will read some notices about upcoming events.

    Oddly, I now have to call on myself to speak, because today it’s the Red Band’s turn to say a few words to open the vigil. The Red Band is Stroud’s progressive street band, and we’ve been a member of the Ceasefire Coalition since March.

    Last time it was our turn to speak we played music for the vigil – the antifascist anthem “Bella Ciao”, which is also used by the Palestinian resistance, “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother”, and The Internationale.

    We’re not playing for you tonight. The band is on a pause, because one of founder members – Karen Coldrick – died two weeks ago. We are devastated, and we have chosen not to play at all during the month of October. Karen was a lovely, kind, beautiful, talented, enthusiastic member of our band, and her death has affected us all deeply.

    There is a saying in the Jerusalem Talmud that goes: “”Whosoever destroys one soul, it is as though he had destroyed the entire world. And whosoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved the entire world.” A similar phrase is in the Koran – “whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity.”

    Karen’s death, one death, connects us to the many thousands of people who have died since the latest round of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians began in October 2023. The tens of thousands who have died in Israel’s assault on Palestinian civilians in Gaza. The twelve hundred Israelis who died as a result of Hamas’s attack on 7th October. Every one of them was someone’s friend, someone’s mother or brother or father or child.

    Earlier this year Karen sang at the annual Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration in Stroud, which the band co-organises with Community Solidarity Stroud District – another Coalition partner. In Yiddish she sang the Jewish partisans’ song, Zog Nit Keynmol, an anthem for hope and against despair. It begins with the words “Never Say This is Your Last Road”. It reaches across the years, from one genocide to another.

    Tonight there is a faint glimmer of hope. Israel and Hamas are in direct talks about a permanent ceasefire. There are plans for an exchange of prisoners and hostages. Of course we’ve been here before. We have no guarantee that this will be a permanent ceasefire. In March this year Israel unilaterally abandoned the last ceasefire. We have no guarantee that this will lead to a just peace – the opposite seems more likely. But even this ceasefire is a necessary condition for something better, and we will go on fighting and work for that something, so that there is justice and equality for everyone who lives between the river and the sea.

    As so as this glimmer of hope flickers, let’s remember our friend Karen alongside all the victims of the war and the genocide.

    Who are Community Solidarity Stroud District?

    Community Solidarity Stroud District exists to build community led solidarity in the Stroud district to oppose the hatred of minorities and oppressed people arising from false and harmful information.

    Contact us

    Follow us on Facebook

    Our Instagram page

    Sign up to receive emails from Community Solidarity Stroud District