Memorial service in Ilford this morning to remember the Holocaust

A memorial service remembering the atrocities of the Holocaust will be held in Redbridge this morning.

Schoolchildren, residents and representatives of the various faiths in the borough will gather in Valentines Park, Cranbrook Road, Ilford, to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

Holocaust survivor Bob Obuchowski, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, will speak during the service, as will Mayor of Redbridge Cllr Muhammed Javed and council leader Cllr Keith Prince.

The combined choirs of the South West Essex and Settlement Reform Synagogue and the Ilford Synagogue will sing a hymn.

School pupils, Rabbi Aryeh Sufrin, of the Chabad Lubavitch Ilford Centre, and the Mayor’s chaplain, Fr Stuart Halstead, of St Alban’s Church, Albert Road, Ilford, will recite readings and prayers.

There will be a laying of wreaths and tokens at the memorial stone before students read the statement of commitment.

The memorial service begins at 11am at the Holocaust Memorial Garden inside the park.