Details of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day revealed

Published: 5 January 2024

The Fragility of Freedom is this year’s theme for Holocaust Memorial Day taking place later this month on Friday 26 January.

Events to mark the occasion, including talks, films and a candle lighting ceremony will be taking place throughout the city.

Holocaust Memorial Day marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.

The day gets underway at Exeter Cathedral at 10am with an opening ceremony attended by the Lord Mayor of Exeter, Cllr Kevin Mitchell and other dignitaries, student ambassadors and primary school choirs.

‘The Fragility of Freedom in todays world’ is the theme of a talk at 10.35am at the Cathedral followed at 10.45 by Rosemary Schonfeld: Finding Relly.

Across the city at Southernhay United Reform Church, ‘A Kindertransport Child, the story of Otto Deutsch’ is the title of a thought-provoking talk. At 12.40pm there is a film and discussion, with the showing of ‘Porrajmos’, about the Nazi genocide of the Gypsy, Roma and Sinti peoples.

This is followed at 1.20pm by ‘The roots of the holocaust’ a talk by David Tollerton from the University of Exeter.

The day is brought to a close at 3pm with a closing ceremony at Exeter’s historic Guildhall in the High Street including reflections and candle lighting led by the Jewish Community.

Across the day there will be a Human rights trail, a self-guided tour through Exeter’s multi-coloured history.

The events will remember the innocent victims of genocide, bearing witness for those who endured such terrible events, and honouring the survivors and all those whose lives were changed beyond recognition.