The Star of David in 600 candles will be set out on the floor of York Minster’s ancient Chapter House on Saturday 27 January, for the cathedral’s annual Holocaust Memorial Day event.  Holocaust Memorial Day remembers the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis in the Second World War and the millions of other people murdered in genocides which have occurred since.

This year’s theme, Fragility of Freedom, will reflect on how the erosion of freedom is the key precursor to persecution and genocide. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Hutu genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. More than a million people were murdered in just 100 days after the violence began in April 1994.

Commenting on the event, the Very Revd Dominic Barrington, Dean of York said: “Despite recognising the signs and signals of authoritarian regimes stripping away fundamental human rights and freedoms, all too often we choose to look away, we choose not to hear.

“Contemplating such cruelty can be overwhelming but if we don’t, genocide can happen as it did in Nazi occupied Europe, in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. This Holocaust Memorial Day we will hear accounts of lives lost to genocide and of survivors able to rebuild their lives but whose minds will never truly be free.”

The event will include poetry, readings, reflections and prayers and music by The Ebor Singers, an associate choir of York Minster.  People will be invited to go to the candlestands to light a candle throughout the event.

York Minster’s Holocaust Memorial Day event is on Saturday 27 January from 6.30pm until 8.00pm. Free tickets are required for admission. To book, visit our event page here, or call 01904 557200.