Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, attended Barnet council’s annual memorial event on Sunday to remember those murdered in the Holocaust. This took place in Middlesex University’s Ricketts Quadrangle in in Hendon on Sunday.
Among those who made speeches were The Mayor, Hugh Rayner, the Deputy Mayor, David Longstaff, and the Leader of the Council, Cllr. Richard Cornelius. A statement of commitment was read by two pupils of St. James Catholic High, Alan Nicholas and Ellie Smith, condemning prejudice and racism. Music was provided by the London Cantorial Singers and the Alyth Youth Choir.
Ms Villiers said afterwards “It was an honour to attend Barnet Council's Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony. I've attended every one of these annual events for some years now and they are always a moving reminder of the appalling scale of the suffering inflicted by the Holocaust.”
“Barnet is home to one of the largest Jewish communities between Tel Aviv and New York, so it's right that Holocaust Memorial Day has such an important place in the borough's annual calendar. That was reflected in all the speeches and readings today.”
“The ceremony was understandably overshadowed by the terrible events in Paris this year, which provide shocking proof that violent anti-semitism, hatred and extremism are very serious problem in Europe. My thoughts are with the families of all those murdered in the Paris attacks.”
This afternoon Theresa Villiers signed the Book of Commitment for Holocaust Memorial Day which is set up every year in the House of Commons by the Holocaust Educational Trust.