Service will remember Holocaust

Liberation of Auschwitz

A HOLOCAUST memorial service is to be held in Hinckley as a focus for remembrance and prayer for people in the town and across the borough.

It will begin at noon on Friday January 27 in St Mary’s Church, when people will be encouraged to remember not only the victims of the Second World War Holocaust but also the genocide of countless others in recent years, such as those in Bosnia, Rwanda, Congo and Cambodia.

The Reverend John Whittaker, vicar of Hinckley, said: “January 27 is the day that the Red Army liberated Auschwitz, bringing to an end the four years of industrialised murder of primarily Jew- ish people but also other ethnic, political and religious groups and anyone who was suspected of opposing the Nazi reign.

“It is estimated that 1.2 million people were murdered in that one camp.”

Speaking at the service will be Inbal Bland, who moved to Hinckley from Israel, and whose relatives were murdered in the Holocaust.

In addition, Market Bosworth-based artist Ruth Schwiening will talk about how her work reflects themes of the Holocaust.

A German Jewish woman, she escaped Nazi Germany in 1939 at the age of three, on one of the last Kindertransport trains to leave the country.

The Mayor of Hinckley and Bosworth, Councillor Richard Allen will give a reading.

Rev Whittaker said: “During the service there will be lighting of candles to remember persecuted groups and an opportunity to add a stone to a pile of stones as an act of remembrance and honouring of those who died.

“We hope that this service will offer an opportunity for many members of the town and borough to come together for this increasingly important act of remembrance.

“We offer a warm invitation to people of different faiths and no faith to what we hope will be a reflective, profound and moving service.”