Alan Heath with the memorial oak, which was grown from an acorn taken from a oak tree which stood beside the gas chambers at Auschwitz, at Christ Church in Fulmodeston. Picture Matthew Usher. Picture Matthew Usher.

Dignity in the face of unimaginable horror, a sign of life in a place of death and the memories of millions of lives lost were all symbolised in a small tree planted in a Norfolk village yesterday.

To send a link to this page to a friend, simply enter their email address below.

The message will include the name and email address you gave us when you signed up.

Email address

  Send link

To send a link to this page to a friend, you must be logged in.

The was tree grown from an acorn collected from Auschwitz concentration camp and was planted in the gardens of Fulmodeston Parish Church, near Fakenham.

Alan Heath, 65, picked up the acorn in 2004, when he was a teacher at The American School in St John’s Wood, London, and was leading an educational tour of Holocaust sites.

Mr Heath, originally from Nashville, Tennessee, moved to Fulmodeston five years ago when he retired.

The tree planting is line with today’s Holocaust Memorial Day and Mr Heath wants it to focus attention on the continuing plight of minorities around the world.

Mr Heath’s interest in the Holocaust was sparked by his father Glenn Heath, who served for the US Army in World War Two. Mr Heath jnr met Eva Schloss, Anne Frank’s step-sister, while teaching in London.

He said: “She was a wonderful woman and she survived five years in Auschwitz with her mother. She told me of the day the Russians liberated Auschwitz. She said it was deadly silent and they did not dare leave their bunks because they didn’t know what was going on.”

He added: “People might think it strange to plant a tree here in Norfolk to commemorate the Holocaust but it is vital for people everywhere to remember the lives that were lost.”

Before the tree planting there was a church service with moving readings, hymns, prayers and music.

Alex Bennet, minister of the Norwich Synagogue, chanted the Kaddish before the tree was planted.

He said: “This has been a very moving service. Unfortunately genocide is still happening in parts of the world today and that is why it is so important to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive.”

Holocaust Memorial Day services will be held today at St Peter Mancroft Church, Norwich, the Jewish Cemetery, Kitchener Road, Great Yarmouth, both at 11am, and Lowestoft railway station at 10.30am. There will be a service at King’s Lynn’s Tower Gardens at 12pm on Sunday.