MONDAY, January 27 marks Holocaust Memorial Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviet red Army. It is a day to remember the millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust; the Jews and the Roma and those from many other backgrounds besides. It is also a day to remember those who have been killed in subsequent genocides after 1945, despite the world saying, “never again”.

These include those murdered in the killing fields of Cambodia, in the heat of Rwanda and in the dark woods outside Srebrenica in Bosnia. It is a day for remembering how genocides can start and how they must be stopped before tragedy strikes again. This April also marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Belsen by the Durham Light Infantry, when they almost arrived in time to save Anne Frank. What better way to honour the bravery of those sons of the North-East than for us all to work for a world without the kind of hatred, discrimination and prejudice, which caused so many to be killed 75 years ago?

Peter Sagar, Newcastle.