This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:
Holocaust victims remembered at county memorials
The atrocities of the Nazi Holocaust were remembered during memorial events in the city and county.
A service was held in Queen's Park, Loughborough, yesterday lunchtime to mark Holocaust Memorial Day – held each year to coincide with the day Auschwitz was liberated in 1945.
Councillor Diane Wise, mayor of Charnwood, led the town's 13th Holocaust Memorial Service at the bandstand, commemorating Jewish lives lost during the Second World War.
"As Mayor of Charnwood, I was honoured to be invited to lead this memorial service," she said. "Although Auschwitz camp was liberated nearly 70 years ago, the effects of what occurred are still felt by many.
"I am proud Loughborough continues to host this service, a poignant reminder of the human costs of war."
The day was also marked by an exhibition in Charnwood Museum, which will run until Sunday. Victims were also due to be remembered at an event at the University of Leicester last night. Communities Together: Build a Bridge was due to be held at the Fraser Noble Hall, on University Road, and was to include displays of work by schoolchildren, on tackling hatred.
Organised by Leicester City Council, Leicester Council of Faiths, the School Development Support Agency and the university's Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust Studies, the evening's programme included presentations by young people who spoke about visiting Auschwitz.
Assistant city mayor Councillor Manjula Sood said: "It is inspiring to see the creativity of young people and the importance of tackling all kinds of discrimination."
