Faith groups, schoolchildren and residents in Redbridge will join together on January 27 for Holocaust Memorial Day.

The borough will commemorate the millions lost in the Nazi genocide in the dedicated Holocaust Memorial Garden in Valentines Park, Ilford.

The date marks the 67th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camps in Poland.

Around six million Jews and millions more including Roma gypsies, Russian prisoners of war and disabled people were murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War.

The service will also reflect upon the victims of recent atrocities such as Cambodia, Rwanda and Kosovo.

More than 300 schoolchildren will attend with some presenting readings, as will representatives of the borough’s faith groups.

Members of local choirs will sing a hymn and council leader Cllr Keith Prince, attending alongside the Mayor of Redbridge Chris Cummins, will make a speech on the theme of Speak Up, Speak Out.

Mr Prince said: “Holocaust Memorial Day is an incredibly significant time where people across the world stop and show their respect for those who died in the Holocaust and other acts of genocide.

“It is so important that we take the time to remember the atrocious acts that led to so many needless deaths.”

Holocaust survivor Issy Hahn, 83, of Clayhall, is likely to join the borough in remembering the genocide at the Valentines Park service.

Mr Hahn campaigned with the Ilford Recorder to get the permanent memorial to survivor Leon Greenman and other UK survivors in the park.

Along with his brother, Karol, Mr Hahn survived six concentration camps, including an escape from Auschwitz.

He said: “I like people to take an interest, it’s not a thing we can forget.

“There’s people forgetting about it, people denying it. This has never happened in human history.”

The service begins at 11am and will last for around one hour.

For more information, contact John Ward, the council’s corporate equalities manager, on 020 8708 2117 or email john.ward@redbridge.gov.uk.

To read more about the borough’s Holocaust Memorial Day plans including an inspirational visit to a Barkingside school, get a copy of tomorrow’s Recorder.