Cheshire East Council held a moving service of remembrance to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.

It took place on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi extermination and concentration camp complex and was attended by local councillors and Sandbach Mayor, Ann Nevitt.

Mayor of Cheshire East Councillor Marilyn Houston led the service in front of about 100 people inside Macclesfield Town Hall yesterday (27 January). It included readings of testaments from survivors of genocide and their families, the lighting of memorial candles and a two minutes' silence.

Attendees included students and staff from Tytherington School and All Hallows Catholic College in Macclesfield, individual members of the public and civic dignitaries representing communities from across the borough.

The leader of Cheshire East Council, Councillor Nick Mannion and deputy leader Councillor Michael Gorman gave short addresses during the 90-minute ceremony.

Guest speaker Leah Burman, of the Northern Holocaust Education Group (NHEG) recounted the harrowing story of her father, Ziggy Landschaft, who as a teenager survived the Krakow Ghetto, forced labour camps, the 'death march' to the notorious Mauthausen concentration camp and being shot while escaping just hours before liberation from the Nazis by the US army in May 1945.

Cllr Houston said: "It is particularly pleasing to see so many young people here today. Each year the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust set a theme – and this year's theme is 'For a better future'.

"There are many things that we can all do to create a better future; we can speak up against Holocaust and genocide denial and distortion; we can challenge prejudice; we can encourage others to learn about the Holocaust and more recent genocides.

"We should all remember that whilst the Nazi Holocaust ended almost 80 years ago, its impact is still felt today. So too are the subsequent genocides, such as those in Cambodia and Rwanda."

Cllr Michael Gorman, whose father was an Allied prisoner of war used as forced labour at Auschwitz and survived a forced 'death march' in winter 1945, in a moving and personal speech said: "My father's experiences of Auschwitz and what he saw haunted him for the rest of his life. So, I urge you all to read about the Holocaust. Learn about it and talk about it among your friends and family – so that it can never happen again."

Cllr Nick Mannion gave a short address before he read the poem 'First they came. . .', by the German theologian and pastor Martin Niemöller.

Cllr Mannion said: "Many people have responded to the atrocities of past genocides through poetry. This poem, 'First they came. . .', is very short, and deals with the themes of persecution, guilt, repentance, solidarity and personal responsibility."

Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) is marked each year on or around 27 January – the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp by the Soviet army in 1945.

On and around this day, schools, communities, faith groups and others across the UK join together in national and local events to commemorate the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered in the Holocaust by the Nazis and their collaborators, as well victims of other acts of Nazi persecution and of subsequent genocides.

Since 1945, there have been several other attempted genocides across the world – including Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur – and these are commemorated on Holocaust Memorial Day.

HMD also provides an opportunity to reflect on the contemporary relevance of the Holocaust, an especially poignant consideration for this year's commemorations, which take place against a background of rising antisemitism in the UK and globally.

The council hopes that HMD 2025 will provide an opportunity for people to come together, learn both from and about the past and take actions to make a better future for all.

NHEG was founded in recognition that the first generation of Holocaust survivors will not be able to continue to tell their stories for ever. Its aim is to ensure that future generations can continue to experience these life stories of victims of Nazi persecution and the Holocaust, in a way that is both meaningful and relevant to the issues of today.

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