Holocaust Memorial Day – Image: Pixabay
On Friday 27 January 2023, a commemoration service will be held in the Town of Folkestone to mark the annual Holocaust Memorial Day, an internationally recognised day to remember the millions of people who were murdered or whose lives were changed beyond recognition during the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and in the subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
Held in the The Garden of Remembrance, Sandgate Road, Folkestone, and led by Reverend Bob Weldon, the service will be attended by the Town Mayor, Town Councillors, local dignitaries and students from local schools and colleges. Students have undertaken their own research and will take part in the commemorations to remember those who died in the Holocaust and subsequent genocides.
The theme set by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust for 2023 is ‘Ordinary People’.
Genocide is facilitated by ordinary people. Ordinary people turn a blind eye, believe propaganda, join murderous regimes. And those who are persecuted, oppressed and murdered in genocide aren’t persecuted because of crimes they’ve committed – they are persecuted simply because they are ordinary people who belong to a particular group.
The theme this year highlights ordinary people who actively perpetrated genocide, ordinary people who were persecuted, ordinary people who tried to rescue and help others and ordinary people who were bystanders and let genocide happen.
The Town Mayor, Town Councillors and local students would like to extend a warm invitation to all members of the local community to this year’s commemorations, which are scheduled to commence at 11.00am in the Garden of Remembrance in Folkestone.