Holocaust Memorial Day in Ashford virtual event because of coronavirus lockdown
19:29, 24 January 2021
updated: 19:43, 24 January 2021
Holocaust Memorial Day will be marked as always but this time virtually.
The arrangements at Ashford for Wednesday, January 27, are inevitably to comply with the current coronavirus lockdown.
The theme for 2021 is Be the Light in the Darkness.
This encourages everyone to reflect on the depths that humanity can sink to, but also the ways individuals and communities resisted that darkness to "be the light" before, during and after genocide.
To mark the day, there will be a virtual ceremony involving the mayor’s chaplain, the Rev John Emmott, and the portfolio holder for culture, tourism and leisure and deputy, Cllrs Matthew Forest and Jenny Webb.
This will be available to view on a dedicated section on the Ashford Borough Council website, which will also include a virtual exhibition exploring this year’s theme.
A posy will also be laid at the Anne Frank tree in the Memorial Gardens.
You will be able to get involved as the Victoria Park team are putting together some tutorial videos on how to create your own special HMD lantern.
You can light a candle and put it in your window at 8pm on Wednesday, then upload a photo of it on social media, using the hashtags #HolocaustMemorialDay #LightintheDarkness #HMDAshford.
There will be a link online for anyone who wants to make a donation to the Holocaust Memorial Trust.
Cllr Forest said: “It is important to mark Holocaust Memorial Day every year so we do not forget the horrors of past genocides.
"While we are not at immediate risk of genocide in the UK, it is a steady process which can begin if discrimination, racism and hatred are not checked and prevented.
"We remember those who were murdered in the Holocaust under Nazi persecution, and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
"We also honour the survivors of these regimes and challenge ourselves to use their experience to inform our lives today.”
The day marks the anniversary that Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp, was liberated in 1945.
