Holocaust Memorial Day: Light a Candle
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) is commemorated internationally on 27th January each year. This date was chosen as it is the anniversary of the day in 1945 on which the Soviet Army liberated the largest Nazi concentration camp – Auschwitz-Birkenau.Each year, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust urges everyone in the UK to pause and reflect on what can happen when racism, prejudice and exclusionary behaviour are left unchecked. On HMD we take the time to see how the lessons of the past can play a part in our communities today.
Visit the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust website to find out more and show your support by lighting a virtual candle.
HMD commemorates all victims - the 6 million Jews exterminated in the Holocaust; groups persecuted by the Nazi regime (Roma and Sinti (Gypsies); black people; mentally and physically disabled people; lesbian and gay people; Slavic peoples; trade unionists and political opponents) and those lost in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda and Darfur.
A number of Reform communities will be organising or participating in local events. Every year Finchley Reform Synagogue hosts pupils from secondary schools in Barnet. The theme for this year is 'The Legacy of Hope'. Pupils will have the opportunity to watch a short film produced by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and to listen to a survivor speaker tell their story. There will be a workshop, "Life in a Jar" based on the life and work of Polish Catholic social worker Irena Sendler and participants are also welcomed into the shul to learn about Judaism.
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