Yom HaShoah commemoration hopes for 10,000 to mark 75 years since Holocaust

Organisers of this year’s Yom HaShoah UK commemoration say they want 10,000 British Jews to come together at the Allianz Park stadium on 20 April to mark 75 years since the end of the Holocaust.

Whereas Holocaust Memorial Day is focused on helping the wider community heed the lessons of the past, Yom HaShoah is the Jewish community’s own day for reflection, and in 2015 more than 5,000 Jews marked the 70-year anniversary.

“In what many now call the last of the big anniversaries, and where the message of ‘never again’ feels more important now than ever before, we hope that this time 10,000 will pledge and join us,” said Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl.

“This will ensure the legacy of our survivors, refugees and liberators is not forgotten, but through our community continues for generations to come.”

Sir Ben Helfgott, president of Yom HaShoah UK, said: “Our generation of survivors cannot last forever. But the memory and lessons of the Shoah will last because you will remember and you will keep teaching them from generation to generation.

“Nothing would please us more than to see thousands of children and their families join us for this important commemoration.”

This year’s event will take place at Allianz Park, Barnet Copthal, on erev Yom HaShoah itself, on the evening of Monday 20 April, with free tickets available to book via the Yom HaShoah UK website.