The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) 2026, which takes place today, on 27th January, is Bridging Generations.

This Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) marks the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp complex, and the 31st anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia. it also marks the 32nd anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, when the world stood by as Hutu extremists shattered the fragile freedom in Rwanda, following decades of tension and violence, culminating in the murder of over one million Tutsis in just one hundred days.

As the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust Trust notes:

“As the years pass, we’re growing more distant in time from the Holocaust and from the other, more recent genocides that are commemorated on HMD. That distance brings a risk – memory fades and the sharp reality of what happened becomes blurred, abstract or even questioned.

Bridging Generations highlights the crucial role of the next generation in preserving the memory of the Holocaust and carrying it forward. It highlights the power of intergenerational dialogue – of listening to those who came before us and of sharing those stories with those who come after. In doing so, we don’t just preserve memory – we connect it to the present.

Genocide doesn’t discriminate by age: infants, children, adults and the elderly have all experienced unimaginable suffering in different ways. In many cases, entire family lines were erased. Bridging Generations invites us to honour each life – and honour those who left no family to carry their legacy – whose legacies live on not through bloodlines but through books, films and other interpretations.”