Today (January 27) is Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK, and to observe the occasion and ensure that prejudice and discrimination will not be tolerated, many London landmarks will be illuminated in purple. As part of a national moment to #LightTheDarkness, buildings across town will be turning purple this evening – so if you’re out for your evening stroll, look to the skies for the illuminated tribute.
Holocaust Memorial Day falls on the date that, in 1945, Soviet soldiers liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where 1.1 million people (90% of whom were Jewish) were murdered under Nazi rule. 2025 marks 80 years since this took place, and it’s been a nationally recognised day in the UK since 2001 – with this year’s theme being “for a better future”. The theme encourages us to come together and learn from the past in order to identify how we can take action towards a better future.
Many of London’s landmarks will be turning purple this evening. Chief among the landmarks that are participating is the London Eye – where the iconic pods will be lit up in purple once the sun has gone down on January 27 – and you can expect plenty of other London buildings to follow suit.
In previous years, more than 30 landmarks across the country, including the Houses of Parliament, Battersea Power Station and Sky Garden in London, and a further 2,000 billboards were also lit up. In 2023, the iconic Picadilly Circus lights also displayed portraits of Holocaust and genocide survivors on a screen lit up with a candle. The moment was captured for a video, which you can watch below:
The Holocaust Memorial Day website encourages any building who wishes to take part to do so alongside others tonight.
You can also take part at home. At 8pm, people are encouraged to watch a virtual ceremony, and place a candle in their own window, both to remember those who were murdered and to remind us to take a stand against prejudice today. Participants are encouraged to share a picture of their candles using the hashtag #LightTheDarkness and #HolocaustMemorialDay on X, Facebook, and Instagram.
Find details about the virtual ceremony and more for Holocaust Memorial Day at their website.