Community, faith and council leaders from across Enfield are uniting to mark Holocaust Memorial Day next Friday.

Enfield Council has organised a programme of events around the annual commemoration, which falls on the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz.

A council spokeswoman said: "We hope to achieve better understanding between all people living in the borough by encouraging everyone, especially our young people, to learn about the Holocaust."

Monday sees a free screening of Sophie Scholl The Last Days, at Cineworld, in Southbury Road, which tells the story of Germany's most famous anti-Nazi heroine.

The 21-year-old student set up the White Rose anti-Nazi resistance movement but was arrested and executed in 1943.

There will be an opportunity for further reflection next Thursday at a special evening at the Civic Centre in Silver Street.

Events will include pupils from Cuckoo Hall Primary School, in Edmonton, presenting themed music, poetry and drama.

Rabbis representing synagogues in the borough will also speak.

Rabbi Stephen Howard, of Southgate Progressive Synagogue, said: "The more we can remain aware of the things which have happened in the past, the more we can strive to prevent them happening again. Genocides have happened again, and we have to be constantly vigilant in every corner of the globe."

This year's memorial day has the theme One person can make a difference' focusing on individuals who fought to prevent Nazi atrocities.

One such person whose courage will be honoured next week is an Edmonton man who died in 1976.

Charles Coward was a British soldier who was captured and imprisoned in a German prisoner of war camp near Auschwitz.

He was responsible for rescuing more than 400 people from the gas chambers while acting as an international Red Cross liaison officer.

Mr Coward later became one of only 13 UK citizens to be awarded the status of Righteous among the Nations' by Israel.

A blue heritage plaque marks his former home at 133 Chichester Avenue.

To attend either the screening, or the event at the Civic Centre, call Deborah Chapman on 8379 3775 or Phil Webb on 8379 4757.