Derry Council buildings to light up purple this Holocaust Memorial Day

Council buildings in Derry and Strabane will join landmarks across the country as they illuminate to mark the international Holocaust Memorial Day. Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Cllr Sandra Duffy, said she was honoured to take part in this world-wide campaign to honour those affected by such tragedy.

“I am delighted to light the Council buildings up in purple as part of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day,” she said. “We will join iconic buildings all around the island of Ireland and the UK as we remember those who have lost their lives due to genocide. We want to show the world that we stand against all types of prejudice and hatred in today’s society.

“We must remember the devastating tragedy that is the Holocaust and learn from it as part of the work we are doing to improve community relations across all our communities.

“I encourage everyone in the city and district to light a candle and place it safely in your window from 4pm on Friday and become part of the conversation about the Light the Darkness campaign.”

Councillors stood for a minute’s silence in the January sitting of the Full Council meeting on Wednesday this week to honour the lives lost in the Holocaust following a notice of motion.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust host the international day every year on the 27th January. This date marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.

The theme of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day is ‘ordinary people’ – as ordinary people were perpetrators, bystanders, rescuers, witnesses, and victims. The theme also aims to prompt us to consider how ordinary people can perhaps play a bigger part than we might imagine in challenging prejudice today.

The Derry Council offices on Strand Road, as well as The Alley Theatre will light up in purple on the evening of Friday 27th January.

For more information on the Light the Darkness Campaign, please visit www.hmd.org.uk/lightthedarkness.