A survivor of the Holocaust is due to speak at Chelmsford's annual Memorial Day.

Edgar is this year’s principal speaker at the Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration organised by the Chelmsford Jewish Community. 

Edgar was born in Hungary in 1930. Edgar’s story was one of hardship and discrimination due to his Jewish descent; where he was ignored and isolated at his school, evicted from his home to sleep 30 to a room in a ghetto where over 70,000 people were confined and at age 14. He was so desperate for extra food rations he volunteered to dispose of the dead for an extra mouthful of food.

Holocaust Memorial Day is the international day of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust and other genocides. It is marked each year on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Chelmsford City Council are supporting the event which will take place in the Council Chamber at Civic Centre, Dukes Street at 7pm on January 22.

Chairman of Chelmsford Jewish Community, Stanley Keller, said: “The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2018 is ‘The Power of Words’. We will hear from Edgar Guest about his life in the ghetto, and hope that his personal testimony will reinforce the message that such atrocities should never be allowed to happen again and that all discrimination, whether by race, religion, colour or gender are finally eliminated.”

This year has seen the passing away of many more of the survivors and witnesses to the Holocaust. We have an obligation to ensure that we keep alive the memory both of those who survived and of those who did not.

This commemoration provides an opportunity to learn of and reflect on many memories.

Local schools will be represented on the night.

Admission to the service is free but by prior reservation only.

To book, call 01245 475444 or by email events@chelmsford.gov.uk.