The theme for this year’s event is ‘Stand Together’, marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenhau and 25 years since the genocide in Bosnia.
During the service, Lord Mayor, Cllr Anna Rothery, will light a candle with Rabbi Avinoam Czitron from Childwall Hebrew Congregation, and there will be a performance from King David High School Choir.
Attendees will also be told more about a memorial project led by the trade union UNISON to remember the women held in the Ravensbruck concentration camp.
There will also be a presentation from young people examining how genocidal regimes have marginalised certain groups and this has been successfully challenged by people speaking out against oppression.
Earlier, the Lord Mayor will lay a wreath with faith and Jewish community leaders at the memorial stone at St John’s Gardens, behind St George’s Hall.
A Holocaust Memorial Day book of remembrance – pictured above being signed by Lord Mayor Cllr Anna Rothery, Mayor Joe Anderson and Alderman Eddie Clein, President of Merseyside Jewish Representative Council – is on display at Liverpool Town Hall until Monday 27 January. It is available for signing on Thursday and Friday from 10am-4pm and on Monday from 1-4pm.
The council also reaffirmed its commitment to remembering the Holocaust at a recent meeting.
Lord Mayor, Councillor Anna Rothery, said:
“Prejudice and oppression are as much of a risk to our society today as it has ever been, and that is why, on Holocaust Memorial Day, we must remind people how dangerous it is to marginalise other groups.
“There will always be individuals, organisations and regimes who want to exploit differences for their own ends and we must have the courage to speak out where we see this happening.
“In a world which is increasingly fractured, where we have some leaders that are more interested in promoting division than harmony, it is vital we remember that there is far more that unites than divides the human race, to prevent a repeat of the horrors of the past.”
Liverpool City Council’s lead on Holocaust Memorial Day, Jeremy Wolfson, a member of the city’s Jewish community, said:
“Holocaust Memorial Day gives us an opportunity to reflect on the Holocaust and subsequent genocides and raise awareness of not only what happened but to try and ensure that the attitudes which led to them are not repeated.”
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