A Holocaust Memorial stall ‘received outstanding support from the public’, according to its organiser.

The North Herts Liberal Jewish Society (NHLJS) hosted a stall in Stevenage Central Library to raise awareness and educate the public about the pain of loss and the dangers of prejudice.

Jacqueline Beattie, who organised the stall in the library, said: “We received outstanding support from the public. We had over a hundred people visit the stall in the library.

“We had all sorts of people coming in from young children who had no idea what the Holocaust was, too old people who can remember it and some of whom had relatives who died during the war.

“The event was to show that any form of prejudice is wrong and I hope that the people who came and saw our stall can realise its danger.

“Events like this are vitally important because people need to know about the past and what happened to ensure that things like the Holocaust never happen again.

“Any racism, sexism or discrimination of any form is wrong and any tolerance of this is a very dangerous thing which needs to be addressed.

“Discrimination is still a huge problem in the UK and the rest of the world and people need to be educated about its dangers. In times of economic hardship, like we’re having at the moment, we see that these ideas grow in strength and that’s something very worrying.”

The stall will be open, but unmanned, during the library’s opening hours until February 2.

Today (Monday), January 27, marks the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp by the Soviet Union in 1945 and was picked as the day to remember those who died in the Holocaust.

A service is being held at the Civic Hall, Council Offices, Danestrete, tonight between 6.30pm and 7.30pm and anyone is welcome to attend.