'BE a light in the darkness' is this year's theme for Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD).

Although we cannot commemorate the day together in person, there are variety of ways you can get involved digitally in Somerset.

Many organisations are working together to provide an online commemoration, including St Johns Church, Somerset Jewish Association, Somerset County Council, Castle School and others.

Leonard Daniels MBE, a member of the HMD Steering Group, explained there would usually be a church service at St Johns Church with between 200-300 people.

“But this year we are holding the event virtually, with a serious of videos from a variety of organisations and individuals in Somerset that will be available for people to watch throughout the day," he said.

“I am Jewish and half my family died in Auschwitz. I thought about whether we still need the messages from the Holocaust and I think we do.

“So many people were killed, but the bigger tragedy was that they died in vain.

“We have been trying to bring the day up to date and so one video is delivered by Avon and Somerset Police all about hate crime in Somerset.

“And the theme this year is finding light in the darkness, which I think is very appropriate, as many people are feeling very down and depressed at he moment because of the virus.

“We will also light candles for the people who were killed, the Jews, LGBTQ+, the disabled and so on – I think we’ve got about six or seven candles in total and we will be getting people from these groups to light them.”

So how can you get involved?

• Keep an eye on Somerset County Councils social media as they will be posting on behalf of the Somerset HMD committee - @SomersetCouncil

• Leonard will be involved in a video connecting HMD and Somerset Anne Frank Youth Awards, you can find this here: somerset.gov.uk/SomersetHMD2021 from 9am until 5pm today (January 27)

• Draw a picture of a candle and put it in your window or post it on social media using #SomersetHMD

• Watch one of the many thought provoking videos on the HMD website - https://www.hmd.org.uk/watch-together/

• Join the national ceremony online - hmd.org.uk

• The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has created a resource called HMD Together. This provides activities that can be done together, alone or virtually - https://www.hmd.org.uk/resources/