Victims of Holocaust remembered in Lynn service
MORE than 70 people gathered in Lynn on Saturday to remember victims of the Holocaust.
This year marks the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and the theme of this year's Holocaust Memorial Day was "The Legacy of Hope".
Lynn has held an open-air service each year since Holocaust Memorial Day was instigated in 2001.
Mayor of the borough councillor Michael Pitcher welcomed those who attended the service in Tower Gardens. Cllr Pitcher previously told the Lynn News: "We have all heard about the Holocaust and question how such a deplorable act sould happen, but it did happen, to innocent people.
"It is right that we should remember the horrors of the Holocaust and the effect that it had on civilisation."
Cllr Pitcher laid a wreath at the base of a tree of remembrance.
Representatives from different community groups gave readings while children from St Martha's Catholic Primary School, Lynn, lit candles and sang to symbolise their commitment to learn from the past and work together towards a democratic and tolerant society.
Lighting a candle is a particularly poignant way to commemorate this day, as it is a Jewish custom to light a candle to remember people who have passed away.
Youngsters from the town's Whitefrairs' school gave one of the readings, another, an excerpt from Anne Frank's Diary, was read by West Norfolk Council leader Nick Daubney. Readings were by members of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities, as well as representatives from organisations in the area.
Prayers were also said for peace.
The first Holocaust Memorial Day was marked in by a national ceremony in London. This year, the national event was again being held in London, having been held in other cities throughout the country over the last few years.
Each year through the event the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust encouragese people to take the opportunity to reflect upon the consequences of the persecution that led to the Holocaust, remember victims, and to learn the lessons that such tragedies have to teach about the impact of intolerance and discrimination in any form.
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Weather for Kings Lynn
Sunday 01 August 2010
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 11 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: West
