Holocaust Memorial Day 2010

Download the Holocaust Memorial Day Lancaster 2010 Flyer Scroll down for the Image Gallery for the event.

Holocaust Memorial Day – marks the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. On this day, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust is challenging everyone across the UK to become part of a Legacy of Hope. HMD 2010 offers an opportunity to listen to the voices from the Holocaust and Nazi persecution, and to make the lessons of hope for a safer, inclusive society where the differences between us are respected a reality today and in the future. Holocaust survivors have played an immense role in bringing our attention to the lessons of the Holocaust.

They speak of pain and loss, of strength and survival, of despair and their wish for a Legacy of Hope. They encourage us to look within and without, to be sure of our moral compass, to be certain of our choices and to use our voice, whenever we can, to speak out. They have translated difficult experiences to create a future that is free from the dangers of exclusion and persecution. They have passed a message of resilience and hope to the next generation.

Our responsibility is to remember those who were persecuted and murdered, because their lives were wasted. Our challenge is to make the experience and words of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides a meaningful part of our future. The aspirations of those who have suffered from the effects of the Holocaust and of genocide around the world, should inform our lives today. Their words can make us think about our own attitudes, our behaviour, our choices, the way we vote, the way we interact with one another, the way we respect and celebrate the differences between us and the way in which we build a safer future together. It is their example that can inspire us to greater action. We need to ask ourselves what we should be doing today to build a safer, stronger society so that the risk of the building blocks of genocide ever being laid is removed.

As humanitarian activist Hugo Slim says of the voices that speak out of tragedy to our shared sense of humanity: “We need to listen, for a change.”

Important Dates To Remember:
In Lancaster we are commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day from 22nd January to 28th January.

On 22nd January there is a workshop from 10 – 3 exploring tools for reconciliation and peace making at the Methodist Church Scotforth Road Lancaster – Booking is essential.

On 27th January at 8.20 the Dukes is showing Defiance – an inspiring true story about 3 Jewish brothers who escape death and go on to lead many Jews to safety. Visit The Website.

On January 28th there is the candle lighting commemoration at 6.30 in the Garden of memorial beside the town hall followed at 7pm by a celebration of hope co-ordinated by More Music.

Sir Claus Moser, a leading statistician who has made major contributions in both education and the arts, will speak at this year’s Holocaust Memorial Commemoration on the evening of January 28th at the Town Hall in Lancaster and visit Morecambe High School in the afternoon.

Born in November 1922 in Berlin, Claus Moser moved to England with his parents in 1936. Despite being Jewish, in 1940 he was interned as an enemy alien in Huyton camp before being released and joining the Royal Air Force. In 1967 Harold Wilson appointed him Director of the Central Statistical Office.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz – Birkenhau. Funded by Celebr8, NCBI Lancashire has organised a number of events to commemorate the occasion. On January 28th at 6.30pm there will be a candlelighting commemoration in the Peace Garden at Lancaster Town Hall, followed at 7.15 by a celebration co-ordinated by More Music in the Town Hall.