Holocaust Memorial Day 2016 will be marked in Christchurch at the site where a Holocaust Memorial was unveiled in 2015.
An event will be held to mark the occasion on 27 January at 10am at the site on Christchurch Quay. The programme will include prayers by the Vicar of Christchurch, The Reverend Canon Charles Stewart and Rabbi Jesner from the Bournemouth Hebrew Congregation as well as the laying of a wreath by the Mayor of Christchurch, Cllr Frederick Neale, and local schoolchildren. Residents and visitors alike are invited to join the event.
The Memorial at Christchurch Quay was unveiled in 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust with the message ‘To keep the memory alive’. The 2016 Holocaust Memorial Day has the theme of ‘Don’t stand by’.
The Holocaust Memorial Day website states: “The Holocaust and subsequent genocides took place because the local populations allowed insidious persecution to take root. Whilst some actively supported or facilitated state policies of persecution, the vast majority stood by silently – at best, afraid to speak out; at worst, indifferent. Bystanders enabled the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and subsequent genocides.”
An exhibition about the Holocaust will take place at Christchurch Library from 25 to 30 January 2016.
More information about Holocaust Memorial Day can be found at http://hmd.org.uk/ .
