Nurture Hope: as it’s the last thing we might ever lose

It’s been a week! Sunday saw Jane and I at the Blackpool Grand Theatre. It really is Grand with a capital G. One of the many gifts she gave me last Christmas were two tickets to see Think Floyd, a superb tribute band for the wonderful Pink Floyd. They started the night with a fabulous rendition of ‘Arnold Layne’. It was a song I first heard over 55 years ago, from the album ‘Relics’. Apparently, it’s a song about a man, who stole knickers and bras from washing lines.

It was a great night, and the band also played my favourite Pink Floyd song ever: ‘Coming Back to Life’ from the album ‘Division Bell’. I plan to have it played at my funeral. The song contains words that are special to me – ‘while you were hanging yourself on someone else’s words, dying to believe in what you heard, I was staring straight into the shining sun’. Essentially it is a song about hope. More of which in a moment.

Last Tuesday saw Karen Howell, our former Chief Executive Officer, retiring. A poignant day for sure. Full of emotion. Karen had joined us in June 2024, following 45 years in a range of NHS roles. It’s clear that our Trust, its service users, carers and the communities we serve have all benefited from her wide and varied knowledge and experience. It’s felt like an enormous privilege to have been able to stand beside Karen over these past two years. Whilst we still have much to do, Karen really helped us move forward on our improvement journey. She provided so many of my colleagues with the hope that we can improve, and become an outstanding provider of mental health service.  

And as for hope, we have spent the last four days in Krakow. Baking hot, 32+c and a busy bustling city, full of colour and movement. On our first day we visited both the Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau) camps. Our visit was totally overwhelming and challenging, both emotionally and psychologically. 1.3 million people were sent to Auschwitz. Of these, 1.1 million were killed. Some 960,000 of these victims were Jews.

In Auschwitz many of the buildings held artifacts, shoes, prayer shawls, cases, glasses, hair shaved from the prisoners and so on. All of which served to remind us of the utter barbaric treatment and deaths of so many people. We had a Polish guide who graphically took us through the history of Auschwitz. It was a very difficult story to hear.

Auschwitz-Birkenau just a short journey away, was even more stark. Only when the camp was liberated by the Russian army did anyone leave the camp alive. Many of the buildings were hastily destroyed by the Nazis as the Russian army advanced, but there were enough left to again tell the story of the suffering so many people went through, Jews in particular. Their treatment was inhuman, brutal and sadistic.

On Friday we walked to the old Jewish quarter and were able to visit the Remuh Synagogue. It was built many centuries ago and for Jews living in Krakow, it was the most scared place in the city. It had endured fires, the Black Death, and the occupation of Poland by the Nazis.  The adjoining cemetery was ransacked by the Nazis, with many of the tomb and gravestones smashed and scattered. It is said that a German soldier who attempted to break Rabbi Moses Isserles’ (referred to as Remuh) matzevah was knocked unconscious by a bolt of lightning.

706 of the original tombstones have been discovered through archaeological digs, and these have been re-erected. Sadly, many others were broken into fragments that made it impossible to piece them together again. However, these have been incorporated into the wall that surrounds the cemetery, aptly names the Wall of Tears. It was a truly moving experience standing and walking through the cemetery in the quiet and bright sunshine.

Sitting in the peaceful synagogue itself was equally moving. It wasn’t a large place, but its history and all that the building had witnessed over the years seemed to me to be present. In contrast, we visited the Krakow Cathedral – a fabulous building with vaulted ceilings, and much of what I would describe as catholic sculpture and religious iconography. I have to say I was secretly pleased, when trying to purchase a concessionary ticket, to be asked for proof of my age. 

Whilst being very different places of worship, both in different ways symbolised hope and triumph of good over evil. Without hope, we have nothing. We were told that in Auschwitz the dreadful conditions meant that most of those taken there died within three months. In Auschwitz-Birkenau it was often just one month. I have struggled to comprehend what surviving in both these places must have been like and how people kept hope burning in their hearts and minds. For me, I hope all of us never has to witness anything like the holocaust ever again.