The remembrance ceremony took place at South Shields Town Hall to mark the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland.

The service was led by Canon Peter Stannard, with readings from the Mayor and Mayoress of South Tyneside and laying of flowers by pupils from three of the borough's schools.

Canon Stannard opened the ceremony, held on Holocaust Memorial Day, with a speech – challenging everyone to use the experiences of those who perished and survived during the Holocaust to make a better future for everyone.

Speaking after the ceremony, Canon Stannard said: "It's all to do with overcoming racial hatred, bigotry, and contempt.

"It is desperately important to keep ceremonies such as this one going and for children to be involved."

The crowd then heard passages from genocide survivors' memoirs.

Children from Hadrian Primary School, Marine Park Primary School and Mortimer Community College laid flowers and lit candles of remembrance.

The service made a big impression on 10-year-old Minhajur Rahman, from Hadrian Primary School.

He said: "It was really good that lots of people were here to think about people who died in the war.

"It is important that we were here to remember. It could have happened to any of us."

The Mayor of Tyneside, Coun John Anglin, who read the Home Office's Statement of Commitment from 2000 at the ceremony, said: "It's essential that we carry on these traditions because they must never be forgotten.

"It is important for children to be involved because they may feel disassociated with what happened during the Holocaust.

"But they must realise that genocides in Rwanda and Darfur are recent and happened within their lifetime.

"We must never, ever forget what happened and do our best to stop it from ever happening again."