A SPECIAL Holocaust memorial service will take place in Harwich for the first time following the unveiling of Harwich’s Kindertransport memorial.

Holocaust Memorial Day is commemorated every year on January 27 – the anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945.

This day also honours the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism.

Following the unveiling of the Kindertransport memorial at Harwich Quay last year, Harwich Town Council said the site would be a fitting focal point for Holocaust Memorial Day.

Harwich mayor Ivan Henderson said: “The Kindertransport Memorial recognises Harwich’s role in the protection of many thousands of Jewish children through the Kindertransport but it also offers a focal point for us to remember and reflect on the horror of the Holocaust.

“It is only a small act of remembrance and reflection, but Harwich Town Council believes it to be an important one.

“We invite all those wishing to attend or to lay their own tribute to join us at the memorial on Holocaust Memorial Day.”

The ceremony will see candles and floral tributes placed at the memorial to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and there will also be a minute’s silence and a short poem read by a member of the local Jewish community.

Mike Levy, chairman of the Harwich Kindertransport Memorial and Learning Trust said: “The installation of this memorial is to serve as a reminder of the kindness the Harwich townspeople played in welcoming thousands of Jewish children that escaped from Nazi-occupied Europe to safety in Britain on the Kindertransport, a humanitarian rescue mission.

“This memorial is a fitting place to commemorate this inauspicious day, reflect on the past, and look towards a kinder future.”

As an extension of the Kindertransport memorial, a new project is underway to identify and record testimonials of the unsung heroes – the families that took in Kinder that arrived in the UK If you know of these families, please contact Mr Levy at kindertransport4@gmail.com.

The service will take place on Friday, January 27, at 11am.