Students and staff from King’s Ely Senior and Junior came together at Ely Cathedral to mark National Holocaust Memorial Day.

The Service of Remembrance, held on January 26, was led by Dr Francis Young, former head of sixth form academic at King’s Ely, who spoke about visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau 10 years ago, and how the Holocaust stands as a reminder that developed western nations are capable of extreme evil towards their own people.

King’s Ely Senior student Ellie Scott also played John Williams’ Theme from Schindler’s List on the violin, and students and staff were able to light candles as a sign of respect.

Holocaust Memorial Day (January 27) is a national commemoration day in the UK dedicated to the remembrance of those who suffered in The Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution, and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. It was first held in January 2001 and has been on the same date every year since.

The chosen date is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp by the Soviet Union in 1945.