Events are being held in Northwich and Little Sutton to mark Holocaust Memorial Day (January 27).

Cheshire author and historian Anthony Annakin-Smith give talks showing and discussing original correspondence written by prisoners while they were in the Nazi’s most notorious concentration camps, including Auschwitz, Dachau and Buchenwald.

The talks will be held at Northwich Library at 5.30pm on Wednesday, January 27 and at Little Sutton Library on Monday, February 1 at 7pm.

Annakin-Smith said: “It’s generally not known that some concentration camp prisoners had the right to send and receive letters. The talk looks at a selection of them, written in the most horrendous of circumstances, and the story of the letter writers. It is an approachable and extraordinary angle on what can be a very difficult subject.”

Cheshire author Anthony Annakin-Smith will be giving talks to mark Holocaust Memorial Day
Cheshire author Anthony Annakin-Smith will be giving talks to mark Holocaust Memorial Day

While the holocaust is generally associated with the extermination of six million Jews during World War II, approximately five million others were systematically killed including many Catholics.

The talk will therefore look at material relating to variety of faiths and nationalities.

Annakin-Smith added: “As well as considering the moving stories of the letter writers I’ll also show extraordinary evidence of how the correspondence was sometimes used by the Nazis for propaganda purposes.”

For more information, contact Northwich Library on 01606 44221 or Little Sutton Library on 0151 337 4684 or 0151 339 3373.