FORMER prison camp inmates joined local dignitaries in a minute's silence to remember those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis.

The mark of respect held on Tuesday at the Wycombe District Council offices in Queen Victoria Road was the district's way of marking Britain's first annual Holocaust Memorial Day, which takes place on Saturday.

The day itself marks the anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz and all those persecuted because of religion or ethnic background.

Henryk Chojnacki, 76, a member of Amersham Combatant Association, told how on October 20, 1939, he was taken from his home and placed in a forced labour camp.

His hands still tell the tale as more than 60 years later he cannot place his fingers together. He has rheumatism after Nazis buried him in snow as punishment.

Mr Chojnacki said: "I endured, I survived, many died."

Cllr David Cox, chairman of Wycombe District Council, introduced the ceremony and said: "It should have been on the British calendar for some time.

"The Holocaust is as much about today as about the past. That is something to remember."

Ranjit Dheer, from Wycombe Race Equality Council, said: "We wanted to remember all the people around the globe who have been the subject of persecution over the past 100 years because of the colour of their skin."