Holocaust Memorial Day 2026 in Scotland
Local interfaith groups and faith communities across Scotland are hosting events to mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2026: find an event near you.
The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2026, ‘Bridging Generations’, is a call-to-action. A reminder that the responsibility of remembrance doesn’t end with the survivors – it lives on through their children, their grandchildren and through all of us. This theme encourages us all to engage actively with the past – to listen, to learn and to carry those lessons forward. By doing so, we build a bridge between memory and action, between history and hope for the future.
Interfaith Scotland Book Club: Man’s Search for Meaning
We invite you to join our upcoming book club discussion on Man’s Search for Meaning, a heart-breaking Holocaust survival story, written by Viktor E Frankl.
Date: Wednesday 21st January 2026
Time: 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Venue: Waterstones, 153-157 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3EW
Register on Eventbrite
Dr Korczak’s Example – A Play by David Greig
Set in the final, numbered, days of an orphanage in the German imposed Warsaw ghetto slum in 1942; Dr Janus Korczak is an educator, writer and Jew, attempting to be a beacon of hope and light by shielding orphaned Jewish children amid a sea of Nazi oppression and pessimism that surrounds them.
Based on real events, this highly affecting play is an allegorical tale, with the notions of humanity, tolerance and resistance in the face of fear and brutality, particularly resonant and important to observe in light of recent national and world events.
This show is a joint production between the Glasgow Reform Synagogue, Garnethill Synagogue, Glasgow and dRC Productions.
Dates:
- Monday 26 January, 7:30pm to 10pm
- Tuesday 27 Tuesday, 7:30pm to 10pm
- Wednesday 28 Wednesday, 7:30pm to 10pm
- Wednesday 28 Wednesday, 1:15pm to 3:15pm
- Thursday 29 January, 7:30pm to 10pm
Ticket cost: £15
Venue: Glasgow Reformed Synagogue Function Suite, 147 Ayr Road, Glasgow, East Renfrewshire G77 6RE
Book your ticket via trybooking.com
Tour of Holocaust Study Centre and Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre
Garnethill Hebrew Congregation is hosting a tour for their invited guests to the Scottish Archive Centre, including the Holocaust Resource Centre, and previewing their ongoing work and guides of the Heritage and Archive Centres.
Date: Monday 26th January 2026
Time: 1pm to 3pm
Venue: Garnethill Synagogue, 129 Hill Street, G3 6UB
Note: This event is by invitation only.
Holocaust Memorial Day, A Reflection by Borders Interfaith Group
Join Borders Interfaith Group to pay respect to commemorate those who lost their lives in the Holocaust and in subsequent genocides in many countries throughout the worlds.
Date: Tuesday 27th January 2026
Time: 6pm
Venue: Borders General Hospital Chaplaincy Centre
The service ends at 6:30pm, refreshments to follow.
Free entry. Places are limited, please reserve your place by emailing eventorganiser15@gmail.com
A Mother’s Story, by Faith and Belief (Dundee and Tayside)
Guest speakers Pat and Les Mackay will share the story of Les’ mother, a Jewess who escaped Germany and fled to Palestine before WW2.
She married a Scotsman who was part of the Palestinian Police Force and eventually came to live in the Scottish Highlands, and had to adjust to a culture and language that were very different from her own. Les was 16 before he learned his mother was Jewish, so fearful was she of people knowing.
Date: Tuesday 27th January 2026
Time: 7pm to 9pm
Venue: Quakers Meeting House, 7 Whitehall Crescent, Dundee DD1 4AR
If you would like to attend, please contact Carrie Varjavandi on 07910 218871.
Holocaust Memorial Day Concert
Over the last six years, RCS has collaborated with the Lord Provost International Twinning Office and Interfaith Scotland to hold meaningful events commemorating victims of the Holocaust as well as victims of subsequent genocides in many countries.
RCS students, from undergraduate, postgraduate and Juniors programmes, will perform alongside young musicians from the Nuremberg High School of Music and Verdi Conservatoire of Turin – two of Glasgow’s twin partner cities.
At the end of the concert, the lighting of a candle will take place – a traditional feature of many Holocaust Memorial Day events across Scotland.
Date: Wednesday 28th January 2026
Time: 6pm onwards
Venue: Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, G2 3DB
Spaces are limited, please book your ticket on the RCS website.
Shetland’s Commemoration Event to Mark Holocaust Memorial Day
Shetland Inter Faith invites you to attend the Civic commemoration to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, providing an opportunity to reflect and remember, including participation by pupils of a local primary school.
Date: Thursday 29th January 2026
Time: 11 am to 12pm
Venue: Lerwick Town Hall, Lerwick, Shetland, ZE1 0HB
All are welcome – no need to register or book in advance.
Online Book Review “The Book of Forgiving”, by Aberdeen Interfaith Group
Aberdeen Interfaith Group will be holding an online book review of The Book of Forgiving by Desmond & MPHO Tutu.
Date: Thursday 29th January 2026
Time: 7pm
All are welcome to come and discuss, even if you didn’t manage to read the book, come and join in the conversation.
20 free books available on request.
The zoom link will be given out 1 week prior for all those who have expressed interest by emailing interfaithab@gmail.com
Holocaust Memorial Day Meeting, by Edinburgh Women’s Interfaith Group
Edinburgh Women’s Interfaith Group (EWIG) would like to invite you to attend the HMD meeting.
Date: Saturday 31st January 2026
Time: 3:30 to 5:30pm
Venue: Southside Community Centre, 117 Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9ER
They will start the session with a short silence. Guest speaker from Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community, chair Andrea Torres, will share her family story and emotional journey of the Holocaust, and Sister Mirium will read a poem. Attendees will have the opportunity to light the candle and say their peace message on the occasion.
Free event. Refreshments will be provided.
For more information, please contact Nila on 07462940990.