Holocaust Memorial Day
27th Jan 2026
Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) takes place every year on the 27th January. It marks an annual, global day of observance held in remembrance of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust, alongside millions of others killed under Nazi persecution and during later genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
HMD invites us all to remember and honour the victims and survivors of genocide, and calls on people and governments around the world to reaffirm our commitment to preventing such atrocities from happening in the future.
The theme for 2026 is ‘Bridging generations’ and you can find out more about this year’s theme on the HMD website.
Newlon was founded due to the philanthropic actions of members of the New London Synagogue in response to the housing crisis in north and east London in the late 1960s. Our founders and their families will have been directly impacted by the terrible atrocities of the holocaust and their commitment to support the needs of their local community is a testament to their belief in creating a better and more compassionate world.
You can read about the extraordinary life of Leopold Genn, who was a highly successful actor, as well as being part of the British unit that investigated war crimes at Belsen concentration camp and later an assistant prosecutor at the Belsen war crimes trials at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Genn. The house where Genn was born is today a Newlon home in North London.