LIVERPOOL will once again mark national Holocaust Memorial Day with an online civic service.
For the second year, a recorded ceremony will be on the Town Hall website at 10am on Thursday, 27 January.
The service will include an Act of Commitment from the Rector of Liverpool, the Reverend Canon Dr Crispin Pailing, music from King David High School as well as testimony from Dr John Goldsmith, who fled Nazi persecution in Germany in 1933 with his mother, arriving in the UK in 1937.
There will also be an Act of Collective Worship from Alsop High School, in the form of a short film featuring the testimony of Auschwitz survivor Zigi Shipper, BEM. The film will be shared with partner primary schools, as part of the Alsop “Together We Can” initiative.
On Monday, wreaths were laid at the memorial stone, St John’s Gardens, by Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr Mary Rasmussen, Deputy Mayor of Liverpool Cllr Jane Corbett, Leader of the Opposition Cllr Richard Kemp, Rabbi Natan Fagleman, Allerton Synagogue, and students from Alsop High School.
Holocaust Memorial Day is held on 27 January each year, marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau as well as serving as an act of remembrance for all victims of the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and more recent genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur.
Lord Mayor of Liverpool Cllr Mary Rasmussen said:
“It’s so important that we continue to pay our respects on Holocaust Memorial Day because there are now so few survivors of the horrors of the Second World War.
“It’s 77 years since Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated and it remains our duty to educate people so this act of remembrance will continue in the future. They must continue to pass this story on. And the young people of our city are already doing that – please watch the film produced by Alsop High School.
“We can never allow these events to happen again. This year’s theme is ‘One Day’. ‘One Day’ could be the one day when there is no more genocide. Join us online on 27 January, take part in it, be a voice, be heard. Don’t let this story die.”
Paul Masher, head teacher of Alsop High School, said:
“It is a great honour for Alsop students to be invited to lead the Liverpool City Council Civic Service for Holocaust Memorial Day.
“We hope that the short film which includes the inspirational Auschwitz survivor testimony of Mr Zigi Shipper, BEM, will encourage young people to learn more about the past, to empathise with others and collectively to take action, to create a better future.”
Jeremy Wolfson, chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Planning Group and a member of Liverpool’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.”