A SPECIAL exhibition of relevant books opens in Minehead library on Saturday ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day, January 27.

January 27 was the day in 1945 when the largest death camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated and is now the date when the survivors are honoured.

It also serves as a reminder that discrimination, racism and hatred should never be tolerated.

Local Amnesty members and Christians Together in Minehead, with the support of other local organisations, are organising the day’s events that will centre on St Andrew’s Church in Wellington Square, starting with a vigil from noon.

Everyone is asked to remember the millions of people murdered by the Nazis and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. 

The theme for 2018 is ‘The Power of Words’. Spoken and written words can have a huge impact, both good and bad – hateful propaganda, testimony from witnesses and survivors, words of hope, courage and faith which can challenge prejudice and effect change.

An exhibition, opening at 12.30pm, features an opportunity for visitors to write their own comments and reflections, and from 1.30pm to 2pm readings and music are planned, also in St Andrew’s.