Oxford will mark Holocaust Memorial Day next week with an in-person service at Oxford Town Hall.
Holocaust Memorial Day is an annual day to remember and learn about the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and the genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
The service of reflection will take place at 11am on Friday 26 January 2024 in the Assembly Room. It is open to people of any faith and none.
Historian and Doctoral Researcher, Barnabas Balint, will be reflecting on this year’s theme, ‘Fragility of Freedom’, and the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda.
Barnabas is a longstanding member of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust's Youth Forum and an alum of the Holocaust Educational Trust's Regional Ambassador programme.
The service will feature video testimony from survivors of the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide, which Barnabas produced for the Trust.
The service will also feature prayers and reflections from the city’s faith leaders and a poetry reading from Anneliese Dodds, MP for Oxford East.
“Holocaust Memorial Day is an occasion to remember the horrors of the Holocaust and the genocides that have taken place across the world and, in doing so, be reminded that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, not only in defending human rights but collectively standing against injustice.
“We must be guided by the lessons of the past and build a future founded on respect, understanding, and the steadfast commitment to preserving and protecting our freedom to live, worship, work and love freely.
“Love for all, hatred for none.”
Councillor Lubna Arshad, the Lord Mayor of Oxford
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