Wolverhampton will come together to remember the victims of Nazi persecution, the Holocaust and other genocides around the world when the city marks Holocaust Memorial Day on Monday 27 January.
The Mayor of Wolverhampton Councillor Phil Page will lay a wreath during a service led by Inter-Faith Wolverhampton at the Cenotaph in St Peter's Square on Monday 27 January.
Mayor Councillor Page said: "Holocaust Memorial Day represents an opportunity to remember the millions of people who were murdered or whose lives were changed beyond recognition as a result of the Holocaust, persecution or genocide.
"It is hugely important that we do not forget what happened during the Second World War and that we educate future generations about the Holocaust, because everyone has a responsibility to fight the evils of discrimination, racism and xenophobia."
The service in St Peter's Square starts at 11am and will be attended by representatives from various faith communities, Trade Unions and pensioners’ organisations, Civic leaders and members of the public.
Holocaust Memorial Day takes place annually on 27 January – the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz-Birkena – and is organised by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
The theme for this year's event is 'Torn from Home', encouraging people to think about how the enforced loss of a safe place to call ‘home’ is part of the trauma faced by anyone experiencing persecution and genocide.
‘Home’ usually means a place of safety, comfort and security, and Holocaust Memorial Day 2020 will reflect on what happens when individuals, families and communities are driven out of, or wrenched from, their homes because of persecution or the threat of genocide, alongside the continuing difficulties survivors face as they try to find and build new homes when the genocide is over.