Hertsmere Borough Council’s plans for Holocaust Memorial Day will be rather different this year because of the coronavirus pandemic but the annual ceremony, a key part of the council’s calendar, will go ahead online.
Mayor of Hertsmere, Councillor Alan Plancey, will lead the ceremony tomorrow, Wednesday 27 January from 6.30pm.
It can be viewed live via the council webcast system and a recording of the ceremony will be published afterwards.
Whilst the event’s format is being modified, there will still be a firm focus on taking time to remember the millions of people who suffered during the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and subsequent genocides in Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia and Darfur.
Mayor Cllr Plancey said: “I am very grateful to everyone who is working so hard to ensure that our ceremony can go ahead in an online format so that we keep everyone safe and comply with on-going restrictions. It is so vital that we take this time to remember those who have suffered at the hands of genocidal regimes and that we ensure lessons are learned as we create a safer future.
“The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day this year is ‘Be the Light in the Darkness’. It encourages everyone to reflect on the depths humanity can sink to but also the way individuals and communities resisted that darkness to ‘be the light, before, during and after genocide.
“Our annual ceremony here in Hertsmere is always a deeply moving event and I am sure this year’s occasion, despite its many differences in format, will be thought-provoking and uplifting.”
Principal speaker at the event will be Angela Cohen, Chair of Holocaust Survivors ’45 Aid Society. There will also be speeches, prayers and the lighting of candles.
Holocaust Memorial Day is held every year on 27 January as this is the anniversary of the day in 1945 when the Soviet Army liberated the largest Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2021 is ‘Be the Light in the Darkness’. Households across the UK are invited to light candles and display them in their window at 8pm on Wednesday 27 January to remember those who were murdered for who they were stand against prejudice and hatred today.
Upload a photo of your candle on social media using the hashtags #HolocaustMemorialDay and #LightTheDarkness
Find out more about what you can do to mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2021 at hmd.org.uk/news/hmdt-blog-five-ways-to-mark-hmd/
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