OLDER people’s champion – and second-generation Holocaust survivor – Irene Kohler is leading an event in Salisbury to mark a special day.

Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) takes place each year on January 27, remembering the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of other people killed under Nazi persecution of other groups and in genocides that followed.
The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust theme for 2023 is ‘Ordinary People’, highlighting the ordinary people who let genocide happen, the ordinary people who perpetrated genocide, the ordinary people who rescued and the ordinary people who were persecuted.

This year, an event hosted by Salisbury City Council will take place at the Guildhall on the day, for invited representatives of communities, groups, organisations and faiths from across the city.
The event, between 10am and noon, will include a two-minute silence, music and video materials and history students reading first-hand accounts provided by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
The council is working with a number of residents with direct generational experience of the Holocaust, including Irene.
She said: “The murder by the Nazis of six million people, mainly Jews was a horrific event which affected so many families including my own, and threatened far more, should never be forgotten.
“Sadly, other atrocities have followed and are still happening in the world today, including in Europe.
“It is fitting for the residents of Salisbury to pay homage to all victims of such atrocities through holocaust Memorial Day.”
Mayor of Salisbury, Cllr Tom Corbin, said: “Holocaust Memorial Day is an opportunity for us to stop and remember and to tell future generations of the horror and persecution that took place on an unimaginable scale.
“History shows that we must always be prepared to speak out and confront all forms of racism and the importance of careful use of language from Parliamentarians to workplace rest rooms to school playgrounds and behind closed doors.”

Anyone who wishes to attend, represent a group, or become involved can contact the Communities Team directly on bhc@salisburycitycouncil.gov.uk or call the office on 01722 417100. All attendees of the event will be invited by the City Council to sign a memorial book.