Ceremonies held for Holocaust victims

Ciara Kenny

Events are being held around the world today to remember the six million Jews who were murdered during the second World War.

Minister for Justice Alan Shatter will give the keynote address at a special commemoration ceremony at the Mansion House in Dublin this evening, which will be attended by Holocaust survivors and members of the Jewish community in Ireland.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Day marks the liberation of the Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp on January 27th, 1945.

In London, president of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and survivor Ben Helfgott lit a candle in memory of the Holocaust’s victims at the Millennium Bridge as a choir sang a specially-composed song.

Mr Helfgott said the event was a “reminder of what happened and why it happened”.

The 83-year-old, who spent more than five years in ghettos, labour and concentration camps, lost his parents, his youngest sister and many people from his extended family in the Holocaust.

Events have also taken place in Germany, Poland, Hungary and Russia to mark the day.IT