Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration - Chelmsford 29th January 2026

The Chelmsford Jewish Community and Chelmsford City Council invite everyone to attend our Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration on

Thursday 29th January 2026

at 7.00 pm in the Council Chamber at Chelmsford City Council, Civic Centre, Duke Street, Chelmsford, CM1 1JE.

The Holocaust Memorial Day is the International Day of Remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust and other genocides.

The official date each year is the 27th January, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

This year’s theme is ‘Bridging Generations’

Our Special guest will be:

Lu Lawrence

Lu Lawrence is the daughter of Zigi Shipper, BEM who was born on 18th January 1930 in Lodz, Poland.

Lu regularly gives talks through The Holocaust Educational Trust and The 45 Aid Society and is a leader on March of the Living.

Zigi Shipper came from an orthodox Jewish family and was an only child brought up by his paternal grandparents. Before the German invasion in 1939, his father fled Poland thinking that his son and his parents would be safe in Lodz.

This thought proved to be so wrong as life became increasingly hard for the little boy and his grandparents who were rounded up in early 1940 as all Jews were forced to move to the Lodz ghetto in the north-east of the city.

Zigi remained in the ghetto for four and a half years until its liquidation in 1944. He survived Auschwitz, Stutthof and two more concentration camps as well as a Death March.

In Chelmsford, Holocaust Memorial Day provides an opportunity to look at all forms of discrimination whether by race, religion, colour or gender.

Light refreshments will be available from 7.00pm