COVENTRY will be marking Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday, January 27 with a tribute service at St Mary’s Guildhall, writes Zara Parkes.
The free event will remember and pay tribute those killed in the Holocaust, with this year’s theme, ‘Ordinary People’, being chosen by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
This theme highlights the ordinary people who let genocide happen, as well as those who actively perpetrated genocide and the regular people who were persecuted.
The service will be led by Coventry City Council’s deputy leader, Coun Abdul Salam Khan, and Lord Mayor of Coun Kevin Maton and will reflect on Coventry’s long history of reaching out to other cities in both war and peace to offer the hand of friendship.
Guest speaker, Holocaust Survivor and Kindertransport child John Fieldsend will be a guest speaker, while Andrij Ilchychn will be performing a Ukrainian reading on Holodomor – a man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 which killed millions.
And Coventry Voice Squad and the Coventry Music Brass Quintet will provide some music during the service, with Coun Khan lighting a candle to end proceedings.
Coun Kevin Maton said: “I hope people will join us at this event, listen to the speakers sharing their own very personal stories which aim to ensure people will remember and highlight the part we all can play in working towards peace, tackling injustice and help prevent future atrocities across the world.”
The service will get under way at 1pm, with those attending asked to arrive 30 minutes before.
Visit www.coventry.gov.uk/hmd and www.hmd.org.uk for more information.
