27 January 2021
The Chair of Shipley Town Council, Councillor Mike Connors, on behalf of Shipley Town Council, has attended an event to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
Councillor Connors heard accounts from a Holocaust survivor and accounts from their family members and others who suffered tyranny due to their identity.
There were further moving contributions from around West Yorkshire and beyond, from faith groups, community organisers, civic leaders and families and their children.
The message to everyone is Be the Light in the Darkness. All attending were invited to light a candle at home.
Speaking about the memorial event, Councillor Connors said:
“The Holocaust is the term for the murder of millions Jews by the Nazi regime and their collaborators during the Second World War. Other groups were also targeted, including Roma, disabled people, Soviet Prisoners of War and civilians, Polish civilians, German civilians, homosexuals, socialists, communists, trades unionists, Freemasons and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The evil of the Holocaust is hard to comprehend. To many, it seems a distant threat, a subject for history books. However, such prejudice, intolerance, bigotry and hate are ever present in our society.
As a Town Council and local community, we in Shipley must make it our duty and responsibility to ensure that the darkness of the Holocaust is forever bathed in the light of the values we seek to uphold: equality, dignity and love for our neighbours.”
