County remembers Holocaust

A COMMEMORATIVE event to honour Holocaust Memorial Day has been held at County Hall.

This year’s event was particularly poignant as it marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in Poland.

The event also remembered the loss of life as a result of subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur and Bosnia.

County council chairman Pam Posnett and Louise Richardson, council cabinet member for equalities, hosted the event and welcomed guests, including Professor Aubrey Newman, of the Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, who delivered the keynote address.

The event also incorporated responses on behalf of Leicestershire County Council and the Leicestershire Inter Faith Forum, with honorary alderman Peter Lewis reciting a poem.

Mrs Richardson said: “Holocaust Memorial Day is an opportunity for people around the UK, regardless of their faith, age, ethnicity or identity, to learn about those affected by genocide and persecution.

“By doing so, we are able to recognise and work to prevent division and hate from defining people’s experience of our communities.”

Last year, 10,000 activities took place across the UK to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, with events held in public spaces, libraries, cinemas, workplaces, schools and universities.