Junior Minister hosts Holocaust Legacy of Hope event

Junior Minister hosts Holocaust Legacy of Hope event

Junior Minister Robin Newton will host the 9th regional Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration in Belfast City Hall tonight.

The theme of this year’s event is Legacy of Hope and will mark the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp.

On hearing about the experiences of those who came through the Holocaust Junior Minister Newton has said: “We cannot fail to be moved by the survivors’ stories.

“Their resilience, their amazing capacity to rebuild their lives from the depth of despair and the contribution that each one has made to the world around them makes them exceptional.

We need to learn from the Holocaust so that our attitudes, our words and our choices will be a positive influence on our community.”

Commenting on the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau Junior Minister Newton added: “Sixty-five years after Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated we are still fighting many of the evils which led to its construction.

It is so important that we pass on a ‘Legacy of Hope’ to our young people. By understanding how the Holocaust occurred, future generations may be spared the horror of repeating it.”

Attending the City Hall event are members of the local Jewish community and representatives from a range of faith communities, ethnic minority and other groups.

Holocaust Memorial Day was initiated in 2000 to remember the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and to raise awareness and understanding of the events of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides as a continuing issue for all humanity. The date, 27 January, was chosen as it was the date of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in 1945.

Notes to editors:

1. The theme chosen for the 2010 Holocaust Memorial Day is “The Legacy of Hope”. Further information about the theme and Holocaust Memorial Day can be obtained from http://www.hmd.org.uk and http://www.hmdni.org/
2. National events will be held in London on 27 January and in Dublin on Sunday 31 January.