A HOLOCAUST memorial will be unveiled in Christchurch this week.

The memorial stone will be publicly unveiled at Christchurch Quay on Friday in a ceremony attended by the Mayor of Christchurch, Cllr Denise Jones, pictured above.

This year is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, and many special events have already taken place across the county.

On Holocaust Memorial Day last month, hundreds of people attended an event in Bournemouth gardens to reflect on the poignant anniversary.

Lynda Ford-Horne, chair of the Bournemouth and Poole Holocaust Memorial Day Committee, was assisted by 91-year-old Walter Kammerling from Strouden Park in the lighting of one of 70 candles across the country as part of a national event.

It signified the start of a minute’s silence to honour the survivors of the holocaust and subsequent tragedies.

Reverend Richard Partridge, the Mayor’s Chaplain, will open the ceremony at 11am with a prayer before the memorial is unveiled.

The Mayor will then be joined by pupils from The Priory School to plant a tree next to the memorial.

She said: “In this 70th anniversary year it seemed appropriate for us to unveil this plaque. As we travel further from these appalling events in history, there are fewer people who will have actually lived through them.

“It is vital that we carry on reminding our young people of what happened then in the fervent hope that it will never happen again.”

The memorial stone, which will be of Purbeck stone with a black granite plaque, will be located in the corner of the Quomps at Christchurch Quay near to the entrance of Mayor’s Mead car park.