WINSFORD’S MP has honoured those who lost their lives during the Holocaust to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp.

Auschwitz was a network of German Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

To mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, which takes place on January 27 every year, Eddisbury MP Stephen O’Brien signed the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Book of Commitment.

Mr O’Brien said: “Holocaust Memorial Day marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau – and is an important opportunity to remember the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and make sure they are not forgotten.

“I encourage all Eddisbury constituents to mark the day and to join members of my community in the fight against prejudice and intolerance.”

Auschwitz was originally built to hold Polish political prisoners, who began to arrive in May 1940, though it later turned into something far more sinister.

From early 1942 until late 1944, Jews were transported to the camp's gas chambers from all over Europe, where they were executed with pesticides.

At least 1.1 million prisoners died at the camp, with around 90 per cent of them Jewish. Approximately one in six Jews killed during the Holocaust died at Auschwitz.

The camp was liberated on January 27, 1945, a day now commemorated as International Holocaust Memorial Day.

In the weeks leading up to and after Holocaust Memorial Day, thousands of commemorative events take place across the country to remember the lives lost in the worst genocide the human race has ever known.

Karen Pollock MBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “We are proud that Stephen is supporting Holocaust Memorial Day.

“As we mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust and the liberation of the concentration camps in 2015, it is vitally important that we both continue to remember and learn from the appalling events of the Holocaust – as well as ensuring that we continue to challenge anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry.”