Board of Deputies President Phil Rosenberg has told a commemorative service in Liverpool that in the wake of the Heaton Park Synagogue attack, this Holocaust Memorial Day “feels different”.
Speaking at the Liverpool City civic Holocaust Memorial Day commemorative service at the Liverpool Town Hall, Phil – a Trustee of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust – said that in previous years he had been comforted by Holocaust Memorial Day. He stated that “if good people; civic, religious and business leaders, could all give up their time one day a year to say ‘Never again’, surely we had a good chance of ensuring it never happened again.”
However, he added: “Holocaust Memorial Day is a sobering reminder of what happens when hate spins out of control. It is also incumbent on all of us to learn the lessons of what happened within the lifetimes of some of the older members of our community, and to ensure we do everything we can to ensure that it can never happen again.
“No one should be subjected to hatred on our streets, in places of worship, on social media, on public transport, on a university campus, in their workplace, in a school, in the NHS, or in a sporting or cultural venue”
Also speaking at the event was The Lord Mayor of Liverpool Cllr Barbara Murray who stated: “it is no less harrowing even with the passage of time and in truth it never will be, but we cannot help but be shocked by the incredulity of what took place, showing the darker side of man’s humanity to man at the greatest acts of cruelty the world has ever seen with six million Jews being systematically murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust, and five million other people including Roma, disabled people, lesbians and homosexuals, black people, trade unionists and asylum seekers, similarly perishing at their hands.”
The Lord Mayor paid tribute to Hazel Verbov who died last year. Hazel was a former President of Merseyside Jewish Representative Council and was a guest speaker in 2018. Hazel’s late father, Rev Leslie Hardman was the Jewish Military Chaplain who was at the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and spoke at the 2008 National HMD Service hosted by Liverpool.
The Lord Mayor and the Rabbi of Allerton Hebrew Congregation Rabbi Natan Fagleman lit an HMD memorial candle following which Rabbi Fagleman recited the Memorial Prayer. Faith Leaders read the Act of Commitment.
Pupils from Alsop High School delivered a presentation about Holocaust survivors Manfred Goldberg BEM and Zigi Shipper BEM and pupils from Archbishop Blanch Church of England High School delivered a presentation about the Rwanda genocide.
Musicians from King David High School opened the service, and the King David High School junior choir closed the ceremony.
Phil Rosenberg also spoke at the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority HMD commemorative service, addressed by Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram. Rabbi Yigal Wachman recited the Memorial Prayer and together with Steve Rotheram lit an HMD memorial candle.
Also speaking was Chair of the Merseyside Jewish Representative Council Jeremy Wolfson. The service, held in the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Council chamber, concluded with a prayer delivered by a Christian faith representative.
Holocaust Memorial Day 2026 marks the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. As well as remembering all victims of the Holocaust it is also a day to remember recent genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur.
