Holocaust Memorial Day 2012

Events will be taking place all over London and the rest of the country to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27. Communities across the capital will be remembering those whose lives were destroyed during the Holocaust under Nazi persecution and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. Events range from lectures and discussions to film screenings and reflective services.

Talks include those at UCL and Imperial, as well as a special performance from Diane Samuels, who was rescued as a child from Nazi Europe at the Jewish Museum. The British Library are hosting an event to raise awareness of the marginalisation of faith, LGBT and BME communities and Kings College are holding a commemorative event on January 24th at 6.30pm.

The day will also be observed with a number of film screenings including ‘Messanger from Poland’, a film by Jan Karski who infultrated the Warsaw ghetto and a German concentration camp to carry the first eyewitness accounts to the West, at the Imperial War Museum (January 21-22); and ‘Kazik and the Kommander’s Car’ will be shown at the London Short Film Festival 2012 (5 February, 3pm).

A Holocaust Memorial Day Reflective Service will take place at Westminster Synagogue at 6.30pm on January 27 and The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust is holding a Pledge Signing in Trafalgar Square (January 26, 9am-7pm). Pledgers will commit to remembering atrocities of the past, challenging the language of hatred and giving a voice to the voiceless to speak out against persecution. If you can’t make it to Trafalgar Square, sign the pledge online.

For more info, see The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

Tags: holocaust memorial day, imperial college, imperial war museum, jewish museum, kings college, london short film festival, Lydia Shellien-Walker, the british library, Trafalgar Square, UCL, westminster synagogue