A woman who lost family members in the Holocaust in Europe laid a wreath of white lilies at the war memorial in Tunbridge Wells on Friday.
The Royal British Legion wreath-laying was one event among many in Kent and Sussex to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
"It behoves us all to think of what happens when autocratic regimes take over," spokesman David Wakefield said.
Pupils in Newhaven planted an olive tree and Chatham's Memorial Synagogue was holding an extended service.
In Ramsgate, members of the public and the town's Jewish community took part in a service in Albion Gardens.
And in Brighton, a week of events remembering the Holocaust began on Monday.
The week started with a screening of Hotel Rwanda, the story of a hotel manager who housed Tutsi refugees during the Rwandan genocide, and there have also been exhibitions, poetry and prose readings, lectures, and a workshop for schools.
"Small actions can make a difference"
Before the ceremony in Tunbridge Wells, Mr Wakefield said the Royal British Legion wanted to take part because the charity wanted to mark the loss of any life.
He said: "On Remembrance Sunday we mark the loss of lives of servicemen in the two world wars.
"The Holocaust is to one side of that, in so far as it was civilian lives lost and very few native-born English people.
"This was Jews, Gypsies, members of minority religions, slaughtered by the Nazis.
"The Royal British Legion will mark the loss of any life."
The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust which runs the national commemoration event has made this year's theme One Person Can Make a Difference, to celebrate the courage of rescuers who helped persecuted people to survive.
Its website states: "The stories of the rescuers show everyone how even small actions can make a difference to the persecuted and hunted. It also highlights the dangers of indifference."
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