LIBRARIES across North Yorkshire will use the power of the words to highlight the importance of Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27.

The day is for everyone to remember the millions of people killed in the Holocaust during the Second World War and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

From January 22 to 29 displays of posters, leaflets and books at libraries in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Malton, Northallerton, Pickering, Ripon, Scarborough, and Whitby will remind visitors of the importance of the day and of the impact words, whether written or spoken, can have.

The county’s executive member for libraries, Cllr Greg White, said: “We hope people will look at the displays and the books and be moved to think about the meaning of the day.

“In the words of Dr Martin Stern, a survivor of the Holocaust, ‘words can strengthen the thin shield of civilisation – or shatter it’.

“We must consider carefully how we use them – in writing, on social media and face to face.”