This week, nearly 250 pupils will mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

Students and teachers from eight Hertfordshire schools, including Hertswood Academy, Elstree UTC, and Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls, will take part in a series of events, hosted by Borehamwood and Elstree United Synagogue.

The students, from years 8 to 12, will have the rare opportunity to hear moving testimony from Holocaust survivors Janine Webber and Harry Olmer. They will also participate in an educational workshop relating historical facts about the Holocaust to contemporary issues. Sessions will conclude with closing reflections from the Synagogue’s Rabbi and the lighting of a memorial candle.

The events are part of a bigger programme of Holocaust Memorial Day activities involving over 3,000 pupils representing more than 50 schools across Hertfordshire and the London Boroughs of Harrow and Hillingdon.

The programme this year is ‘The Power of Words’, and aims to educate students about the Nazi atrocities, make a connection between the Holocaust and subsequent genocides and invite students to consider their personal responsibility to promote tolerance in today’s world.

Holocaust Memorial Day was marked nationally on January 27.