The event was live-streamed on the council’s YouTube channel.
Guest speakers included Vlada, Barbara and Yaroslav, three refugees from the war in Ukraine who are living temporarily in Hertford, Catherine Henderson from Herts Welcomes Refugees and Rabbi Irit Shillor.
Councillor Jonathan Kaye, Executive member for Communities, said: ‘Holocaust Memorial Day brings us together to remember lessons of the past and to challenge prejudice in all its forms. This year’s theme – Ordinary People – resonates strongly. Victims of genocide are persecuted not because of crimes they have committed but simply because they happen to be members of a particular group or community.’
Holocaust Memorial Day takes place every year on 27 January to encourage remembrance of the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust alongside the millions of others killed under Nazi persecution, as well as victims of the more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. 27 January marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.
To watch the service, please visit the council’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/easthertsdistrict
