UK Commemorative Event

Each year Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT) organises the UK Commemorative Event for Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD). This is the focal point of HMD in the UK and brings together the civic, faith and political leadership of the country, alongside survivors of the Holocaust and more recent genocides.

UK Commemorative Event

The UK Commemorative Event acts as a spotlight for all of the HMD activities in the UK. In addition, HMDT helps ensure that key events take place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

At this event, we honour survivors of the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution, and the genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. At a national level, we remember all those who were murdered and resolve to learn lessons from the past to create a safer, better future.

Holocaust Memorial Day 2021

The UK Ceremony for Holocaust Memorial Day moved online this year, for the first time in its history, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ceremony was narrated by BBC’s Naga Munchetty and featured contributions from our Patron, HRH The Prince of Wales and The Prime Minister, Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP. It featured personal testimonies from survivors of genocide, films, readings and music. 

The UK Ceremony ended with a national moment to ‘light the darkness’, and iconic landmarks and billboards across the UK lit up in purple as an act of solidarity.

Black Pool Tower lights up for HMD 2021, image credit: Ashley Barnard Photography

Read more about the 2021 UK Ceremony here.

Watch the Ceremony here

As well as the UK Ceremony for HMD, ceremonies also took place in Scotland and  Wales to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January.

Previous years

To find out more about the national ceremonies which have been held in previous years, click on the links below. You can also explore a gallery of images from previous years at the bottom of the page.