A SERVICE was held on the seafront to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.

More than 50 people gathered in the Sunken Rose Garden in Clacton for the event at 11am on January 27.

John Gottesman, a member of the Jewish community, led the service, conducting a short sermon reminding those gathered of the lessons learnt by humanity from the Holocaust.

Jeff Bray, chairman of Tendring Council also said a few words, while Anna Molen read two poems by Dora Love.

A survivor of the Holocaust who settled in Colchester, Dora Love spent much of her life educating others about the atrocity.

Mr Bray thanked all those who attended the service.

He said: “It is important that commemorations such as these are actively marked as it is through that shared experience that we can truly learn from events of the past.

“John’s words made all of us think about the lessons we have learnt – and must continue to learn every day – from the horrific events of the Holocaust, and that continue to bring us together in common humanity.”

First held in 2001 after being established by the government, Holocaust Memorial Day aims to promote awareness of how people and communities were persecuted under racial and social policy because they were different.

Harwich played a key role in the Kindertransport as the first stop for most of the 10,000 predominantly Jewish children rescued from Europe shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, something Mr Gottesman referenced in his service.