MEMBERS of the local community are invited to join in a commemoration event to remember the Holocaust in Dorchester.

The South West Dorset Multi Cultural Network (SWDMCN) is hosting its 10th annual Holocaust Memorial Day event at the Corn Exchange on Friday, January 30 from 12.30pm to 1.30pm.

The free event will be attended by local councillors, network members, schoolchildren and other organisations and members of the public are urged to come along.

Among the speakers will be Dorset Police and Crime Comm-issioner Martyn Underhill, who has picked out a quotation from Edmund Burke to provoke and inspire thought on the day.

The quotation reads: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Mr Underhill said: “This saying haunts me whenever I think of the Holocaust, and how good decent people stood by and allowed absolute horror.

“My father was in the 8th Army, and served throughout the war including the invasion of Germany.

“His tank was the first tank to enter Belsen on the Luneberg Heath.

“He only talked about the horror to me once, and he cried as he relayed the fact that by feeding the poor souls, he actually killed some by overfeeding them.

“It took days before the soldiers realised they needed a structured approach to feeding the starving.

“So let us never forget this blindness, this evil.”

The theme for this year’s event is ‘Keep the Memory Alive’ as 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birken-au.

Also talking at the event is local resident Harry Grenville, who will share his experiences of coming to Britain as part of the Kindertransport.

Students from Thomas Hardye School will reflect on the impact of the genocide in Rwanda and in Bosnia as 2015 will also be the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica.

Sunninghill School pupils will also contribute to the events with readings and artwork.

Free refreshments will be served from noon and the event will conclude with the lighting of candles and then a minute’s silence.

Chair of the SWDMCN Anne Marie Vincent said “We are looking forward to our local community coming together to remember victims of the Holocaust and those whose lives have been affected by exclusion and hatred in subsequent genocides”. Emma Scott, community development officer at West Dorset District Council, added: “At this event we ask people to learn lessons from the past to create a safer, better future.

“The message of the theme – to keep the memory alive, reminds us that we have the opportunity to learn from survivors whilst they are still with us and think about how we will carry their lessons into the future.”

  •  THE SOUTH West Dorset Multicultural Network is also putting exhibitions up about the Holocaust local libraries. The displays will be up in Dorchester, Bridport and also Weymouth libraries until Monday, February 2.