Holocaust Memorial Day 2023 commemoration event at Council House

Birmingham’s annual civic commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day will be hosted at the Council House this week.

The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Cllr Maureen Cornish, will lead the event on Sunday (29 January 2023) which this year has the theme of ‘Ordinary People’. The event is free, open to all and starts at 2pm.

Holocaust Memorial Day commemorates the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi persecutions, as well as other genocides around the world.

Ordinary People is the theme for this year’s event – to remember that ordinary people were the perpetrators, bystanders, rescuers, witnesses and victims. It is also an opportunity to learn more about the past, empathise with others today and take action for a better future.

This year’s programme will feature a candle-lighting ceremony as well as testimony from Mindu Hornick MBE, who will talk about her experiences as a Holocaust survivor, plus performances from violinist Simone Schehtman, Birmingham’s Poet Laureate Jasmine Gardosi and the city council’s choir.

Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Cllr Maureen Cornish, said: “Holocaust Memorial Day is an opportunity for everyone to pause, reflect and learn lessons from the past and apply them to the present day, to create a safer, better future.

“We are coming together to light a candle and remember victims of atrocities and genocides around the world, as well as those who are still sadly losing their lives through war, conflict and hate crime. I hope as many people as possible will join us at the Council House on 29 January.”

Cllr Jayne Francis, Cabinet Member for Digital, Culture, Heritage and Tourism at Birmingham City Council, will be hosting the event.

Holocaust Memorial Day is 27 January –the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the Nazi death camps – so people across the UK are being asked to light a candle and safely put it in a window at 4pm, for a national moment of remembrance.

A national commemoration for Holocaust Memorial Day will be streamed online on Thursday, 26 January, at 7pm. For more details please visit the Holocaust Memorial Day website.