Good turnout for Holocaust Memorial Day

A STRONG turnout marked Holocaust Memorial Day in Great Yarmouth, as members of the council and public paid tribute to those who were killed during the second world war.

In one of three such gatherings in the region last Thursday, the Reverend Chris Terry led a service at the Blackfriars Jewish Cemetery. From 11am, he and around 30 others remembered the six million men, women and children who died in concentration camps run by the Nazis – the majority perishing in death camps where they were gassed and their bodies burned.

Mayor Michael Jeal, who laid a wreath during the ceremony, said: “The morning was a very somber occasion to remember a great tragedy in the world which I hope never happens again.

“There was also very good turnout, as there was for Remembrance Day. I’ve been to the service previously on a couple of occasions and sometimes there’s a handful of people so it was heartening to see.”

The occasion was also marked by members of the Jewish community laying wreathes, saying prayers and being followed by a silence.

Similar services took place in Lowestoft’s railway station and Norwich’s St Peter Mancroft church.

Following the official Yarmouth ceremony, two men who had served in the second world war as soldiers and saw the horrors of the concentration camps also spoke of their experiences.

Mr Jeal added: “We should never forget what happened, because if we do it could happen again.”

The Yarmouth service alternates between burial grounds at Blackfriars Road, Caister and Kitchener Road.