A NORTH-EAST university is marking Holocaust Memorial Day next week with what is believed to be the largest regional event in the UK.

Teesside University will bring together staff, students and local people to commemorate the holocaust against European jews, as well as other groups targeted for genocide.

The free event on Monday, January 27 will include national speakers and student presentations from young people who have recently visited holocaust sites in Poland.

In addition the acclaimed Anne Frank Trust's History For Today exhibition will be on show and open to the public from January 23 to 31 in the university’s Constantine Gallery.

The exhibition follows the Frank’s family journey from Anne’s birth to her death in a German concentration camp.

The event itself begins at 9am and will include a keynote speech on Britain and genocide by Professor Tom Lawson, professor of holocaust studies at Northumbria University.

There will also be an introduction to the holocaust from Chris Webb, UK director of the Holocaust Education and Archive Trust website and a presentation on television representations of the holocaust by Mark Handscomb, senior lecturer in online journalism in the university’s school of arts and media.

Professor Gerda Roper, dean of the school of arts and media at Teesside University, said: 'It is extremely important that we remember and reflect on the atrocities of the Holocaust, which represented the depths of man's inhumanity to man."

At lunch time there will be a special commemorative event in the Constantine Gallery from 12.30pm to 1.30pm, which will provide an opportunity for reflection and remembrance. 

To book a place visit tees.ac.uk/events