Leeds looks to 'bridge generations' with events taking place around Holocaust Memorial Day 2026
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Leeds will once again pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and bridge the generations through remembrance at a special memorial event in the city.
Holocaust Memorial Day takes place on January 27, with the city hosting a series of three events to remember those who have died through persecution.
Bridging the generations through remembrance to carry the lessons forward is the theme of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day in Leeds.
Speaking about this year’s theme, Lord Mayor, Councillor Dan Cohen said: “Through acts of remembrance and by educating ourselves on the consequences of hate, we learn to challenge intolerance in all its forms and to accept and celebrate our differences.
“The lessons of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides should never be forgotten. These lessons are especially important in a world that is becoming increasingly polarised by division and hate.”
Leader of Leeds City Council, Councillor James Lewis, said: “As a multicultural global city, Holocaust Memorial Day is a reminder to us all of the consequences of hate, racism, and xenophobia.
“Only by standing shoulder to shoulder as one community, and through accepting and celebrating each other’s differences, can we learn and grow to overcome hate of all kinds.
“Holocaust Memorial Day also plays an important role in reaffirming our commitment to stopping the inhumanity of genocide in the future and building bonds of trust between our many and varied communities here in Leeds.”
What events are taking place in Leeds during Holocaust Memorial Day 2026?
Holocaust Memorial Day civic ceremony (January 25 - City Varieties Music Hall)
The annual Civic Remembrance Event is scheduled to take place at City Varieties Music Hall on January 25, with keynote speaker Dr Tracy Craggs, Head of Collections at Holocaust Centre North, discussing her work in working directly with Holocaust survivors and their families to secure their personal collections.
Dr Craggs has a unique role where she also looks after the welfare and needs of survivors based specifically in Yorkshire, including the family of Iby Knill. Craggs has worked closely with Iby’s children, Pauline and Chris, to examine the "complexities of history within a family."
The civic ceremony will also feature powerful artistic contributions that bridge the gap between historical record and emotional connection, most notably through the multimedia performance Sight by artist Laura Fisher.
Using a blend of photography, video, sound, and spoken word, Fisher retraces the 1942 journey of Holocaust survivor Iby Knill across the no-man's-land between Czechoslovakia and Hungary, a tribute that mirrors a similar pilgrimage made by Iby’s son, Chris, to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Complementing this visual storytelling, the event will be rich with music, including performances by the United Hebrew Congregation choir led by Rabbi Alby Chait MBE, and a traditional memorial prayer sung by the Lord Mayor’s Chaplain, Rabbi Anthony Gilbert.
These performances culminate in a poignant ceremony where representatives from various persecuted groups read the seven statements of commitment while lighting candles, providing a reflective and multi-sensory conclusion to the proceedings.
Film Screening - A Real Pain (January 22 - Seven Artspace)
Seven Artspace will screen the award-winning 2024 comedy-drama ‘A Real Pain,’ starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin as two mismatched cousins who travel to Poland to honour their late grandmother and explore their family’s past.
As they visit historic sites, including a Nazi concentration camp, the journey forces them to confront long-buried personal tensions alongside the heavy weight of their heritage.
The screening starts at 7:30pm and is run on a pay-what-you-can basis.
The Piano Player of Budapest (January 29 - Reginald Centre)
Singer-songwriter and author Roxanne de Bastion will visit the Reginald Centre (Chapel Allerton Library) to discuss her book, ‘The Piano Player of Budapest,’ as the memoir tells the extraordinary story of her grandfather, Stephen de Bastion, a concert pianist whose life in 1930s Hungary was shattered by the Holocaust.
Roxanne will be in conversation with writer Stu Hennigan, sharing how she discovered a cassette recording of her grandfather that unravelled his history of survival and the legacy of the family piano.
The talk begins at 7:00 p.m. and is yet another pay-what-you-feel event.