Hundreds of people gathered for a Romanian themed Holocaust Memorial commemoration.

Pinner Synagogue, in Cecil Park, Pinner, held a Yom Hashoah event yesterday (Sunday, April 23).

More than 350 people listened to guest speaker Leslie Kleinman retell his “remarkable” story of surviving the Holocaust.

The 87-year-old, who is from Romania, was incarcerated in Auschwitz at the age of 15 with his mother and six younger siblings, but he was the only family member to survive.

He was liberated near Dachau concentration camp, in Germany, by the Americans coincidentally on April 23 1945, but only began speaking of his experiences following 60 years of silence because he felt compelled to educate the next generation.

Mr Kleinman said: “The problem is that people forget the Holocaust so what I want to pass on is: do not hate anybody.

“Be tolerant because hate only causes hate.”

During the event, the Romanian ambassador Dan Mihalache also gave a “poignant” address to the audience, which included ambassadors of Switzerland and Poland Dominik Furgler and Arkady Rzegocki respectively.

In addition, six candles were lit to remember the six million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust and Pinner Synagogue youth members read poems and extracts from the recently deceased author, Nobel Peace prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, also from Romania.