Havering residents urged to honour Holocaust Memorial Day online

Rabbi of Romford and District Synagogue, Reverend Lee Sutherland, has helped produce the virtual service (credit: Havering Council)

People in Havering are being encouraged to honour Holocaust Memorial Day online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Holocaust Memorial Day service would normally take place in Coronation Gardens, in Romford, but it can’t go ahead due to Covid-19 restrictions.

A virtual service will instead be held at 2pm on Sunday, 24 January which will be available on Havering Council’s Facebook and YouTube channels.

The council has worked with the Rabbi of Romford and District Synagogue, Reverend Lee Sutherland, to produce the commemorative service.

Holocaust Memorial Day takes place on Wednesday, 27 February when further tributes will be paid to mark the important occasion.

The theme for the 2021 Holocaust Memorial Day is “Be The Light in the Darkness.”

It is encouraging everyone to reflect on the depths that humanity can sink to but also the ways individuals and communities have resisted darkness to “be the light” before, during and after genocide.

Mayor of Havering Council, Councillor John Mylod said, “Whilst the normal Holocaust Memorial Day service cannot go ahead, it’s important we still pause and reflect on the millions of victims of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides.

“It’s also a reminder that we must all be that light in the darkness. We each have a responsibility to end discrimination and work for a safer, better, future for everyone.”

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