Home Secretary David Blunkett and the Princess Royal were among those who remembered the victims of the Holocaust in Edinburgh.

The Scottish capital hosted the UK's third annual Holocaust Memorial Day on Monday.

Mr Blunkett and Princess Anne were among 1,500 people attending the national commemorative event at the Usher Hall.

Scotland's First Minister Jack McConnell and Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks were also at the ceremony, which was open to the public for the first time.

Holocaust survivor Reverend Ernest Levy said a memorial prayer

The event featured Lord of the Rings actor Billy Boyd and more than 100 local schoolchildren.

There were also poems, music and testimonies from survivors.

The event's theme of Children and the Holocaust was chosen to remember the 1.5m child victims of the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945.

Opening the proceedings, Mr Blunkett said people had a responsibility "not to remain silent" in the face of evil.

He told the story of a teacher in his constituency who fled Nazi Germany and as a child was helped by locals, even though some of them held questionable values.

He added: "This story I think reinforces our responsibilities and reiterates the truth that for evils that flourish it only needs decent men and women to remain silent.

Remember victims

"It is beholden on all of us in this commemoration not to remain silent when we see evil around us."

Holocaust Memorial Day falls on the anniversary of the liberation of the former Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The event was first held in 2001 to encourage people to remember victims of the Holocaust and reflect on the lessons to be learned.

A number of other events were organised in Edinburgh between 15 and 31 January.

Scottish actor Billy Boyd took part in the event

They included a performance of All Our Futures, a collection of music, readings and dance by young people.

The public had the opportunity to sign a Book of Commitment and light a candle to commemorate victims at the City Chambers.

An exhibition of paintings by Holocaust survivor Marianne Grant, entitled I Knew I Was Painting For My Life, is being staged at the City Arts Centre.

Elsewhere in the UK, London's Mayor Ken Livingstone was joined by school children to read words in memory of the six million Jews who died.

In Bushey, Herts, a tombstone was consecrated by the United Synagogue at the burial site of the remains of victims who perished at the Belsen concentration camp.