Holocaust Memorial Day 2026 events
We invite you to join us at one of our Holocaust Memorial Day events and mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2026.
All events are free of charge.
- 600 Candles, Reflection and Remembrance - 22 January
- Hiding the Holocaust: Examining the architecture and topography of terror - 26 January
- York Civic Event - 27 January
- Clifford’s Tower Commemoration - 16 March
600 Candles, Reflection and Remembrance
Thursday 22 January, 6.30pm.
York Minster, Deangate, York YO1 7HH.
600 candles will be lit in York Minster’s Chapter House to remember the many millions who were killed in the Holocaust and in subsequent genocides across our world.
The event will follow choral evensong, which begins at 5.30pm and to which all are invited.
We will then move to the Chapter House where there will be music, readings, silence and space for quiet reflection and an opportunity to light candles in remembrance. Everyone is welcome.
Book online or by calling telephone: 01904 557200.
Hiding the Holocaust: Examining the architecture and topography of terror
Monday 26 January, 6.30pm.
Ron Cooke Hub, University of York
How did millions of people ignore the death and suffering taking place during the Holocaust? This talk will examine the architecture and landscape of Nazi concentration camps in Germany to discuss why so many felt able to deny the existence of the camps and the realities of the Holocaust.
It then questions how we memorialise the Holocaust in the twenty-first century, and how a focus on aspects of the Holocaust impacts on how we ‘remember’.
The talk concludes with suggestions of how we can use this information to speak out against tyranny and anti-Semitism, and look beyond the surface to challenge misleading rhetoric.
Rachael Burns is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at The University of York. Her studies into the Holocaust began in 2001 with a school visit to Dachau concentration camp which instilled in her the importance of education to make a difference in the world. Her studies since, throughout her university career, have been focused on the Holocaust and genocides around the world, but her passion is in teaching the next generations to speak out against inequalities and to empower them to be the change they want to see.
York Civic Event
Tuesday 27 January, 6.00pm to 8.00.
Creative Centre, York St John University, Lord Mayor’s Walk, York, YO31 7EX.
York will be embracing the theme ‘Bridging Generations’ through a programme that seeks to commemorate the past, explore the continued persecutions of the present and encourage positive actions that will make a difference in the future.
The event seeks to serve as a reminder that the responsibility of remembrance doesn't end with survivors - it lives on through their children, their grandchildren and through all of us. This theme encourages us all to engage actively with the past - to listen, to learn and to carry those lessons forward.
Hosted by the Civic Party, this informal evening will include a speech from Susie Kaufman of the Holocaust Educational Trust and a reading of the ‘Seven Commitments’.
Clifford’s Tower Commemoration
Monday 16 March.
Clifford’s Tower, Tower Street, York YO1 9SA.
A commemoration of the 1190 massacre of York’s Jewish population at the site of York Castle at Clifford’s Tower, attended by the Lord Mayor and Civic Party.
The commemoration will include music, spoken accounts and contributions, concluding with prayer and an act of remembrance.
For enquiries contact Laura Swiszczowski on email: laura.swiszczowski@york.gov.uk, and Bianca Vartic on email: bianca.vartic@york.gov.uk.
Details of times and how to book to attend will be provided nearer the time.