A VIRTUAL commemoration will be held as Greater Manchester marks Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27.

Faith, civic and political leaders throughout the city-region will take part in an event to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on Wednesday 27 January, which this is year taking place online in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

The service will be broadcast live to residents through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube from 10am.

Speakers include Holocaust survivor Tomi Komoly and Rehma Muguyeneza, survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

The virtual service will be hosted by Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, in collaboration with the 10 boroughs.

This year’s Holocaust Memorial Day takes place under the theme of ‘Be the Light in the Darkness’.

As well as commemorating the Holocaust, Holocaust Memorial Day is a day to remember those that endured and survived other genocides, including in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “We mark Holocaust Memorial Day this year in a way that’s now becoming familiar to us: separated, but united by our bonds of community, solidarity, and friendship. Once again I want to thank the Association for Jewish Refugees and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust for their dedication and support, and Tomi and Rehma for joining us and giving us the privilege of listening to them.

“On this day we remember the Jewish people of Europe who faced such monumental evil, and all victims of the Holocaust and genocides in Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia, Darfur, and other places. We commemorate them, as we commemorate all who survived these atrocities and whose lights have shone defiantly against the darkness.

“If we allow ourselves to forget what happened in the past, we risk failing to recognise when those ideas try to take root again. We must never allow that, and we must stand together to challenge hatred, discrimination and persecution at every turn.”

You can view the service on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MayorOfGM/ , Twitter: https://twitter.com/MayorofGM/ and YouTube: https://youtu.be/Kcgh2okJ4Mw.