An annual service to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day will take place in Lancaster next week.
The service will be held in the Garden of Remembrance at Lancaster Town Hall on Thursday January 30 at 6pm.
The ceremony will include multi-faith prayers and readings, the lighting of memorial candles, and a minute’s silence.
The theme of this year's Holocaust Memorial Day is ‘For a Better Future’ and communities around the UK will come together to pledge not to take freedom for granted and consider what they can do to strengthen freedoms around the world.
Holocaust Memorial Day is held to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. It also commemorates the millions more people murdered through the Nazi persecution of other groups and in the more recent genocides recognised by the UK government, and the genocide in Darfur.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Councillor Abi Mills, mayor of Lancaster, said: “I would encourage people to join us for this service of remembrance to honour the memory of those murdered during the Holocaust and in subsequent genocides.
“Holocaust Memorial Day serves as a reminder that the horrors of the past must never be forgotten and that we each have a responsibility to stand up in opposition against hate in all its forms.
“This year the service will be especially poignant as it is the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, as well as the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia.
“Let us and come together as a community and renew our commitment to building a world where such atrocities are never repeated."
Everyone is invited to attend and bring a lantern as part of a collective remembrance pledge to light the darkness and share the lessons of the past to create a safer, better future.
A nationwide online ceremony called Curated Moments will take place on Monday January 27 which will be televised on BBC at 7pm, and will end with the call to join the Light the Darkness campaign at 8pm.
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