Sunderland Minster service to mark Holocaust Memorial Day in city

Sunderland will remember the victims of genocides worldwide in the lead up to Holocaust Memorial Day with a service at Sunderland Minster.

Holocaust Memorial Day takes place on Saturday, January 27, and the international theme for 2024 commemorations is 'Fragility of Freedom’.

The theme was chosen to 'show that genocide doesn’t just happen; there is always a set of circumstances which build a climate where genocide can take place, and where perpetrator regimes can remove the freedoms of those they are targeting.'

The Sunderland Inter Faith Forum will hold a Holocaust Memorial Day Event at Sunderland Minster at 6.30pm on Thursday 25 January and anyone is invited to attend.

Joining the Inter Faith Forum will be Mayor of Sunderland Councillor Dorothy Trueman, The Deputy Lieutenant for Tyne and Wear Ms Susan Wear DL and Guest Speaker Leslie Urbach from London, who will be sharing her mother’s story.

During the memorial event there will be musical performances from Redby Academy choir, Thornhill School choir and violinist Judith Johnson.

Mayor of Sunderland Cllr Dorothy Trueman said: "It’s so important that we commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day each year as it ensures we never forget the lives lost and helps us to teach future generations about the consequences of racism and hatred.

"I'd ask everyone in Sunderland to help us commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day and join this special memorial service at Sunderland Minster as we remember the victims of genocides worldwide."

Sunderland Inter Faith Forum said: "This event bring us all together to remember and learn about Nazi persecution and the genocides that have followed in Cambodia, Darfur, Rwanda and Bosnia, in the hope the actions of ordinary people will prevent Genocides."

This year’s Holocaust Memorial Day event will take place at 6.30pm in Sunderland Minster.

For more information on what is happening nationally for Holocaust Memorial Day, visit www.hmd.org.uk