The Mayor of Sandwell will lay two wreaths of yellow daffodils on behalf of Sandwell Council and the West Midlands Lieutenancy in the memorial gardens at Highfields on Holocaust Memorial Day.

This year marks the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. Sandwell Council House and Highfields will also be lit in purple, the colour adopted by the Holocaust Memorial Trust, from 3:30pm onwards.

The council is encouraging residents to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, as well as the millions of other people including Romani, Slavs, homosexuals, people with disabilities, Jehovah’s Witnesses and political dissidents killed under Nazi persecution. The day also marks genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

The theme of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day is ‘One Day’, that asks that we come together to remember, to learn about the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and the genocides that followed elsewhere, in the hope that there may be One Day in the future with no genocide. Survivors of the Holocaust and of genocide also often talk about the One Day when everything changed, sometimes for the worse and sometimes for better. Mayor of Sandwell, Councillor Mushtaq Hussain, said:

“By marking Holocaust Memorial Day we remember all those who were murdered in the holocaust and subsequent genocides.

"We also honour all survivors and hope that by listening to and learning from their testimonies we can look forward to One Day when we will live in a world where genocide and hate crimes no longer exist.”

To mark Holocaust Memorial Day, you could pick One Day in history and learn about that day. One Day is just a snapshot in time and therefore cannot give the full picture, the context, the background that is needed, but it can help bring a piece of the full picture to life.

You can also mark Holocaust Memorial Day by lighting a candle and placing it in a window as a mark of remembrance and respect.