THE six million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany will be honoured today in services in Bournemouth and Christchurch.

Holocaust Memorial Day marks the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest and most notorious death camp presided over by the Nazis.

Bournemouth and Poole Holocaust Memorial Day Group are hosting an act of commemoration near the cenotaph in Bournemouth Gardens between 3pm and 3.45pm.

And at 10am in Christchurch a multi-faith service will be conducted in the Starboard Suite of the Captains Club Hotel.

This will include prayers led by the vicar of Christchurch, the reverend canon Charles Stewart, and Rabbi Adrian Jesner from the Bournemouth Hebrew Congregation.

The service was due to be held on Christchurch Quay but has been moved due to bad weather. 

Schoolchildren as well as the mayor, Cllr Frederick Neale, will lay wreaths in remembrance.

All residents are invited to attend and pay their respects, with organisers saying that they hope the events will bring together people of different faiths and backgrounds.

Lynda Ford-Horne, one of the organisers of the Bournemouth event, said it is “vitally important” to remember the Holocaust and subsequent genocides.

A further commemoration will be held at the BIC at 2pm on Sunday. This will include a performance by the students of St Peter’s School and music from Wessex Chorus Community Choir.

First-hand accounts, including that of a young Christian woman from Syria, will be presented and there will also be speeches from two Holocaust survivors - one of whom is a Bournemouth resident and survivor from a German town

This year's event, which is free, hopes to attract around 700 people.

To book, call 0844 576 3000.