City remembers victims of the Holocaust
THE CITY of Leeds came together to remember the atrocities and six million men, women and children murdered in the Holocaust along with the millions of others that were killed under Nazi persecution in an annual civic event.
It was standing room only inside Leeds Town Hall as several hundred people attended yesterday’s event.
The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Coun Eileen Taylor said: “During my time as Lord Mayor I have visited communities across out city. I have been impressed and moved by the work that has taken place to bring together young and old people, people of different faiths and ethnic groups. We are very lucky to live in a city with so much diversity. Now, more than ever, it is important that all the communities are able to live together in peace.”
Coun Taylor lit a candle prior to a performance by the Opera North Youth Chorus which, over the last few months, had been working on a piece that explore how genocidal regimes fracture societies and how to challenge those tactics. Dr James Smith CBE, life president of the National Holocaust Centre, was the keynote speaker and after his address candles were lit to commemorate all those who have been affected by the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur.
Leeds North East MP Fabian Hamilton, who attends the service each year, said that this year there is extra significance as it is the 75th anniversary of the liberation.