Great Yarmouth Borough Council invites people to annual service to mark Holocaust Memorial Day

Holocaust Memorial Day occurs every year on January 27 - the anniversary of the liberation of the largest Nazi death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945 - and this year's service will take place at the Kitchener Road Cemetery, Great Yarmouth.

The service will be led by the Mayor's chaplain, Revd Steve Deal. He will be joined by the Mayor of the Borough of Great Yarmouth, Councillor Carl Annison, and the chairperson of the Great Yarmouth branch of the Royal British Legion, Josie Fitzgerald - both of whom will be giving short readings.

Members of the public are invited to join the service, which starts at 11am on Tuesday, January 27. People are asked to arrive at 10.50am to ensure they are present before the service begins.

Organised by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT), this year's theme for the Memorial Day is Bridging Generations, and is a call-to-action. It is designed to be a reminder that the responsibility of remembrance doesn't end with the survivors - it lives on through their children, their grandchildren and through all of us.

The aim is to encourage everyone to engage actively with the past - to listen, to learn and to carry those lessons forward. By doing so, the intention is to build a bridge between memory and action, between history and hope for the future.

His Worship the Mayor, Councillor Annison, who will also lay a wreath on behalf of the borough, said: ''We hope as many people as possible will be able to join us for the important annual service to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

''As the years pass, we're growing more distant in time from the Holocaust and from the other, more recent genocides that are commemorated on HMD. That distance brings a risk - memory fades and the sharp reality of what happened becomes blurred, abstract or even questioned.

''This year's HMD theme highlights the crucial role of the next generation in preserving the memory of the Holocaust and carrying it forward. It highlights the power of inter-generational dialogue - of listening to those who came before us and of sharing those stories with those who come after. In doing so, we don't just preserve memory - we connect it to the present.''

Every year on Holocaust Memorial Day across the UK, thousands of people come together to learn more about the past and take action to create a safer future.

Find out more about Holocaust Memorial Day.