Communities Together: Building a Bridge in memory of the Holocaust

Bury’s young people are taking the lead in building bridges to combat hatred and discrimination. 

Young people from local secondary schools and colleges, faith leaders, musicians and community members will join together for Bury’s Holocaust Memorial Day event. This will be held at Radcliffe Civic Suite on Thursday 24 January, and is an evening of poetry, dance, drama and music, with readings from the accounts of people who lived through the Holocaust and other atrocities.

Holocaust Memorial Day is held every year on 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. It remembers the victims of the Holocaust and of other genocides which took place in Darfur, Bosnia and Rwanda, and aims to tackle prejudice, discrimination and racism in the present day.

The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2013 is “Communities Together: Build a Bridge”, encouraging people to build understanding, to unite in a common cause and reflect and remember together.

The Mayor of Bury, Councillor Joan Grimshaw, said: “On HMD 2013, we are encouraging our local communities to come together to remember victims of the Holocaust and those whose lives have been affected by exclusion and hatred in subsequent genocides. On this day, we hope people will come along to our event and take the opportunity to reflect on how communities have been and are persecuted, but to focus also on how communities have joined together and overcome prejudices.”

Councillor Mike Connolly, leader of Bury Council, will be joined by members of all parties in signing the Holocaust Memorial Day Statement of Commitment.

The event at Radcliffe Civic Suite will start at 7pm. Anyone who wishes to attend should call Sam Purdy on 0161 253 5165 as entrance to the event is strictly by ticket only.

ENDS

Press release issued: 16 January 2013.