MEMBERS of Saddleworth Peace Group gathered to remember victims of the Holocaust at an Uppermill ceremony.
And the area’s MP, Debbie Abrahams, signed a Book of Commitment, honouring those who were murdered and paying tribute to the survivors who work tirelessly to educate young people today.
About 40 people gathered in The Square to remember the victims of the Holocaust and of Nazi persecution of other groups.
Victims of subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur were also remembered.
The Oldham East and Saddleworth MP and Councillor Barbara Beeley, Saddleworth’s Peace Champion – both spoke at the ceremony.
The theme this year was ‘ordinary people,’ the ordinary people who were victims and the ordinary people who made brave decisions to rescue, to hide or to stand up.
Saddleworth Peace Group also considered the ordinary people who were the perpetrators and the ordinary people who turned a blind eye as bystanders.
A spokesman said: “Today we are all ordinary people who can make a difference by making decisions to challenge prejudice, stand up to hatred, and speak out against identity-based persecution.”
Saddleworth Peace Group is a secular group that champions peace at a local and global level.
People can find out more by emailing saddleworthpg@yahoo.co.uk or by following it on Facebook.
To mark Holocaust Memorial Day – January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of the infamous Nazi concentration and death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, in 1945 – Mrs Abrahams signed the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Book of Commitment.
She said: “Holocaust Memorial Day is an important opportunity for us all, across Oldham and Saddleworth, to reflect on the darkest times of European history.
“I pledge to remember the six million Jewish men, women and children who were murdered in the Holocaust.
“On Holocaust Memorial Day we also remember and pay tribute to all of those persecuted by the Nazis, including Roma and Sinti people, disabled people, gay men, political opponents to the Nazis and others.
“We also remember all of those affected by genocide since, in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.”
