Events are being staged across Britain and Yorkshire in memory of the six million Jewish people murdered by the Nazis before the horror came to an end in 1945.
Millions of others died for the "crime" of being Slavic, trades unionist, communist, pacifist, gypsy, homosexual or lesbian, disabled.
Most of the six million Jewish victims died in gas chambers at extermination camps in Poland and other camps across Eastern Europe and Germany. Their bodies were burned in crematoria built to work on an industrial scale.
International Holocaust Memorial Day this year also marks the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the biggest death camp of all, where more than 1m people died.
On January 27 soldiers of Stalin's Red Army walked into the camp where hours earlier the Nazi special police, the SS, had blown up the crematoria in a futile effort to destroy the evidence of their crimes.
Survivors
Leeds has Britain's third largest Jewish community after London and Manchester. They include survivors of Auschwitz and other death camps. Few, if any, will not have lost relatives in the slaughter.
Today they are grieving for their lost ones. Many others are grieving with them – community and political leaders, trades union activists, people of religion,campaigners devoted to combating the rise of the extreme Right.
For despite all the evidence – and more has emerged with the opening of new archives following the collapse of the Soviet Union – there are those who deny the Holocaust ever happened. Nick Griffin, leader of the extreme right British National Party is one of them, describing the Holocaust as "the Holohoax." He hopes the people of Keighley will agree with him. He is standing for Parliament there at the next general election.
Holocaust survivor Arek Hersh, sent to Auschwitz when he was 14, has just returned from visiting the remains of the camp. It was one of many journeys he make as part of an educational process to ensure that a new generation is told the truth about what happened.
Today he is at St James's Palace in London at a reception hosted by the Queen for 600 Holocaust survivors, and some of the men who liberated them.
Mr Hersh, of Harewood near Leeds, produced a book about his experiences, A Detail of History, the words used by French National Front leader and Griffin ally Jean Marie Le Pen to dismiss the Holocaust. The book has also been turned into an award-winning film called simply Arek.
Exhibitions
Around Yorkshire commemorations and exhibitions are being staged as part of the international determination that the world must not forget the Holocaust.
In Wakefield an exhibition marking the liberation of Auschwitz and exploring images of Nazism opened today at Wakefield Media Centre.
The display features the work and thoughts of London photographer Bill Hunt following a recent visit to Auschwitz and to Birkenau, the satellite camp built purely for gassing victims and burning their bodies. The display contrasts the profound sombre images of the concentration camp with flippant portrayals of the Nazi regime, including the recent coverage of Prince Harry wearing a Nazi costume at a fancy dress party.
The exhibition invites viewers to examine how they feel and respond to the images and legacy of the Nazi regime.
Bill Hunt said: "Having spoken to survivors about their experiences, I was shocked that awareness of the Holocaust is now so low, particularly amongst young people. I wanted to create a photographic record that hopefully goes some way to bring home the impact the event had on mankind."
Images of the exhibition can be seen on the photographer's website at www.auschwitz-birkenau.org.
Andy Green, a director of the Wakefield Media Centre, said: "This is a timely opportunity to reflect on the images of the Nazi regime."
Other events today include a commemoration in Dewsbury, where North Kirklees Trades Union Council staged a ceremony on Longcauseway.
The Praxis Centre at Leeds Metropolitan University is holding an all-day event tomorrow.
"Yesterday, Today and the Day After Tomorrow" will address the Holocaust, the atomic raids on Japan and the problems of climate change.
Ceremony
A civic ceremony will be held in Leeds Civic Hall at 2 pm on Sunday, focusing on the theme "Survivors, Liberation and Rebuilding Lives."
Holocaust survivors will share their unique stories of incarceration, liberation and how they rebuilt their lives.
The event is free but tickets are limited. They can be obtained by calling 0113 2474194.
Leeds College of Music at Quarry Hill is staging a display in the college bar focusing on music and the Holocaust.
The college will also host a commemorative concert on Sunday at 7.30 pm. The programme includes Gideon Klein's String Trio and Hans Krasa's Tanec (dance), two works composed in Terezin concentration camp. They will be performed by London-based Andrusier Ensemble.
A research collaboration between the University of Leeds and the Holocaust Survivors Friendship Association has produced a project and exhibition entitled Making a New Life: Holocaust Survivors in Yorkshire. It runs at Leeds Civic Hall until Sunday.
In Ilkley a theatrical production, Kindertransport, tells the story of a little Jewish girl evacuated to Britain from Germany, leaving behind her family.
It runs at the town's Playhouse until February 5.

peter.lazenby@ypn.co.uk
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