Holocaust memorial statue location to be announced

The location of Yorkshire's first public Holocaust Memorial sculpture will be announced later today as part of Kirklees Holocaust Memorial Day.

Following the announcement, an independent trust will be set up to fundraise for the project. It is estimated that £1.5m will need to be raised to create and install the sculpture, and deliver a three year education project.

In attendance will be Iby Knill, author and survivor of Auschwitz and Dilara Changis, who fled persecution in Afghanistan and is now a student of art at Huddersfield University, as well as local schools, community groups and the Mayor of Kirklees, Martyn Bolt.

The original installation '6 million+' was created by artist Antonia Stowe in partnership with Kirklees Council in 2006 for Huddersfield Art Gallery.

Buttons were collected by people in Kirklees and as word spread, individuals and organisations donated more from across England and America. The buttons were then displayed in and around towers to help viewers and in particular children and young people imagine the sheer scale of the Holocaust.

The buttons will now become a permanent, public sculpture to commemorate the Jews and other minorities killed in the Holocaust, and continuing genocides.