Ceremonies marking Holocaust Memorial Day have been held across Nottinghamshire – and for one local man the day was especially poignant.
A special service took place at the National Holocaust Centre, at Laxton, near Newark, this morning.
Howard Kendall was among those who attended, having lost most of his family in the genocide.
As a boy he escaped the Nazi persecution in 1939 when his mother, sensing the scale of the atrocities to come, had an extraordinary idea to keep him safe.
“I’ve been one of the very lucky ones. Six million Jews perished and I was extremely fortunate,” he said.
“My mother advertised me in an English newspaper for someone to give me a home. and that’s how it happened.
I owe everything to her
“I often say my mother gave birth to me twice; when I was born and she gave me my life again when she placed this advert.
“I owe everything to her. There’s so much she had to put up with. I can’t talk about it now.”
This year’s event at the centre had theme of ‘Say no to hate’ in recognition that crimes related to race, religion or sexual orientation are still being committed across the globe.
Besides the Second World War atrocity, which led to the deaths of around six million jews in Europe, the event marks lives lost in other crimes including the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
A ceremony was also held at Bramcote Hills Park’s Walled Garden.
The event takes place on January 27 because on this date in 1945, the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by Soviet soldiers.
