SCORES of people from across Basingstoke and Deane gathered to remember victims of the Holocaust and other acts of genocide today.

Groups of people, including councillors and relatives of loved ones who were affected by the Holocaust, came together this morning - Holocaust Memorial Day - at the town's War Memorial in London Road for a two-minute silence to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945.

The Reverend Karen Wellman, chaplain to the Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane Councillor Roger Gardiner, led the service before Cllr Gardiner laid a wreath on the War Memorial on behalf of borough residents.

Addressing people at the service, Rev Wellman said: “The 27th January is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and we pause to remember those who died in the Second World War in the Nazi death camps, in the ghettos and those who have died in genocide in Rwanda, Cambodia, Darfur, Bosnia".

“It is easier to get on with our everyday life but the responsibility for preventing history repeating itself is up to us.”

Hazel Vanbergen, of The Street, in Old Basing, was also at the event to remember her friend Lissie Lind, who was a child prisoner at Auschwitz during the Second World War.

She said: “She was adopted later by a Danish couple and she had no recollection of her previous history before the camp. It was tragic and she was a very good friend to me.

"She suffered a great deal of stress through her life because of the experience and that's why I came here today.”

Mother-of-two Suad Thrift, from Oakley, added: “We are very fortunate in Basingstoke that they do this every year. It is very, very important to remember what they went through.”

For more coverage from today's service, read this week's Gazette which is on sale on Thursday.