St Helens Borough commemorates Holocaust Memorial Day 2021

St Helens Borough commemorates Holocaust Memorial Day 2021

St Helens Borough will remember victims of mass genocide next week, with a number of poignant gestures planned to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

Held every year on 27 January, Holocaust Memorial Day falls on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp where more than a million people died during the second world war.  

In total, six million Jewish men, women and children were murdered in the Holocaust – while millions of others were killed in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur.  

Holocaust Memorial Day is one of the most important occasions on St Helens Borough Council’s events calendar which would usually see a commemoration ceremony held in St Helens Town Hall, attended by schools and key dignitaries.   

Due to restrictions in place to control the spread of coronavirus, the ceremony is unable to take place this year, however the Holocaust Memorial Day flag will still be flown above St Helens Town Hall throughout the day.  

In the evening, the Steve Prescott Bridge will be lit purple, the colours of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust – a fitting way to mark this year’s remembrance theme: Be the Light in the Darkness.  

Meanwhile, the council’s award-winning St Helens Library Service will pay tribute through digital events, including:  

  • Moment of Reflection, which will be posted out twice on social media throughout the day, featuring the 70th Anniversary Holocaust Memorial Day candle and the recital of El Malei Rachamim – the Holocaust Memorial Prayer – and the Kaddish, the Jewish Prayer for the Dead
  • A video of Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental, who shared his story with St Helens residents at Holocaust Memorial Day events in 2015

Starting from Monday (25 January) the library service will be posting daily recipes from countries that have experienced genocide – as well as reviews of books themed on the Holocaust.  

An image of a flame, produced by local artist Mille Chesters, will also be available to download for residents to display.  

St Helens Council’s Cabinet Member for Wellbeing, Culture and Heritage, Councillor Anthony Burns, said:  

“We can’t let such a significant day pass by without remembering the millions of victims of mass genocide, from Bergen-Belsen to Bosnia, that have been persecuted and murdered throughout history because of their ethnicity and religious beliefs, among other things.  

“We ask you to join us by taking a moment to remember the many men, women and children that have lost their lives as a result of these barbaric atrocities.  

“As a no place for hate borough, we are also calling on residents to be Better Than That  – a movement which asks the people of St Helens Borough to come together to stand united against hate by signing an online pledge.  

“We must learn from the past to reflect and fight for a peaceful future.”
 
To sign the pledge visit https://www.safersthelens.org.uk/noplace4h8

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