Barking and Dagenham Council will be commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day on Thursday 27 January. The event will bring together the borough’s civic, faith and political leaders in a special online event and will see the Town Hall lit up in purple and the raising of a commemorative Holocaust Memorial Day flag.

This year’s theme is “One Day”. One day that we can come together to remember, to learn about the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and the genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, in the hope that there may be one day in the future with no genocide. We learn more about the past, we empathise with others today, and we take action for a better future.

As a borough, it is so important that we remember the six million Jews who were murdered under Nazi persecution, and in genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. 

Holocaust Memorial Day is commemorated on 27 January – a date that marks the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest concentration camp in occupied Poland. It is a day for everyone to remember the six million Jewish people murdered in the Holocaust, and the millions of people killed under Nazi persecution, and in genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. 

 

Holocaust Memorial Day is an opportunity for local people and communities to reflect on those lives that were changed beyond recognition, and to challenge prejudice, discrimination and hatred in our society today. Holocaust Memorial Day reminds us that we all have a role to play to ensure that we learn the lessons of the past, to create a safer, better future.

 

The council hopes residents will commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day with them at a special online panel discussion. This event will include Leader of the Council, Cllr Darren Rodwell, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement, Cllr Saima Ashraf, MP for Barking, Dame Margaret Hodge DBE and Rabbi Herschel Gluck OBE. The online event will be held from 5pm – 6pm on Thursday 27 January, and residents can find more information about it at: www.lbbd.gov.uk/holocaust-memorial-day-2022 

 

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement, Cllr Saima Ashraf said: “As a borough, it is so important that we remember the six million Jews who were murdered under Nazi persecution, and in genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. 

 

“This year’s theme is ‘One Day’ and I hope our residents take time on this day to remember the many lives that were lost, whilst also challenging prejudice, discrimination and hatred that continues in our society today. There is no place for hate and division in Barking and Dagenham and today is an opportunity for us all to come together in solidarity.”