ASA Scotland: Bonnybridge service marks Holocaust Memorial Day

ASA (Ancre Somme Association) Scotland in partnership with Falkirk Council allowed people to pay their respects at a short service held in the village’s memorial garden.

Holocaust Memorial Day is held annually on January 27 to mark the day in 1945 when the Nazi death camp Auschwitz was liberated.

The event was organised by President of ASA Scotland, Councillor William Buchanan, who said “It is really important to remember the horrors of the Holocaust as we find history almost repeating history in 2024.

"Young people today across the United Kingdom need to fully understand the past because freedom is not free.”

ASA Scotland Chairman and Bathgate councillor Harry Cartmill said: “I was honoured to attend this special service today.

"Having spent a month of my life some year’s ago in Israel, I spoke to many Holocaust survivors, they made it their mission to tell the world of the atrocities committed during World War II, in the hope that future generations would never contemplate such an abhorrence to ever happen again.

“My late father saw at first hand, the unspeakable aftermath of a torched to the ground Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp ten days after the Allied liberation. He said the Nazis had burned it to the ground, bones on the ground everywhere as they tried to hide the evidence.

"I hope and pray that this day helps solidify a commitment to pursue a path to World Peace.”

Braes councillor James Kerr said: “A nation that forgets it’s history has no future, freedom is not free. Sincere thank you to the Provost of Falkirk Robert Bissett and the local community for supporting today’s poignant service.”