York Minster plans to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day with 600 candles

Six hundred candles in the shape of the Star of David will be lit at York Minster to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.

The candles will be lit to remember more than 6 million Jewish people and millions of other groups murdered by the Nazis in the Second World War — and the millions who have died in the genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

The commemoration will take place on Wednesday 25 January at 5:30pm.

The Minster’s act of commemoration is part of a week-long programme of events taking place across the city of York to mark international Holocaust Memorial Day, which takes place on 27 January each year.

The date marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp – the largest Nazi death camp – in 1945.

The event at York Minster will begin with a Choral Evensong service — which is attended by representatives from York’s Jewish community and other faith communities.

There will then be a procession to the cathedral’s Chapter House for the act of commemoration, which also includes readings, music, poetry, prayers and periods of silence for quiet reflection.

The Revd Canon Maggie McLean, Canon Missioner at York Minster, said: “The international theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2023 is ‘Ordinary People’, which encourages people to reflect on the importance of those ordinary men and women who, although caught up in the events that surround them, find courage and humanity not to dehumanise other people and who offer small acts of kindness which might just be all it takes to give hope and offer a tiny glimmer of light in the darkest of moments.”

To find out more, visit the York Minster website.