STUDENTS from Henry VIII Comprehensive School will help lead an act of remembrance to mark Holocaust Memorial Day at St Mary's Priory at 11am on January 27.

Although January 27 is the day  that Auschwitz and Birkenau Concentration Camp (Poland) was liberated it is not only the Nazi Holocaust that is remembered but other more recent atrocities like Darfur, Cambodia and Rwanda.

Holocaust Memorial Day was created on January 27, 2000, when representatives from 44 governments around the world met in Stockholm to discuss Holocaust education, remembrance and research. At the end of this meeting, all attendees signed a declaration committing to preserving the memory of those who have been murdered in the Holocaust, under Nazi persecution and in subsequent genocide.

Father Mark Soady, the new Vicar of St Mary's, said, "It is important to remember, for in remembering we can try to ensure it will never be repeated. So during the service there will be an opportunity both to remember those killed, but also to pledge to ensure it will never happen again."