THE Holocaust will be remembered across Monmouthshire next week as the county marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Holocaust Memorial Day will take place on Tuesday, January 27, with this year's theme of Keep the Memory Alive. This year marks two significant anniversaries; 70 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 27, 1945, and 20 years since the genocide at Srebrenica in Bosnia.

Monmouthshire council will remember those who lost their lives, and also those who survived the brutalities, with a service for councillors and staff at County Hall, Usk led by the council's leader Peter Fox from 11am.

Caldicot Library will be hosting an evening of readings on January 27 from 7pm to 8pm with a short talk about Auschwitz and film clips of survivor stories. Members of the Friends of Caldicot Library and Caldicot Local History Society will perform the readings.

Councillor Fox said: “Holocaust Memorial Day is a time for us all to reflect and to remember the victims of Nazi persecution and murder, and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. I hope people will pause to pay their respects”.

Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said: “Holocaust Memorial Day is about learning from the past to build a better future; it is about promoting equality, respect and understanding. This year we are asking people to share the stories of those affected by genocide to ensure their legacies live long into the future and to keep the memory alive”.

For further information visit www.hmd.org.uk