The Holocaust will always be an integral part of our lives as British Jews. Nearly all of us know someone who was affected by the Holocaust and have grown up hearing their stories.

The announcement last week of the establishment of the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre right next to Parliament sends a strong message that the Holocaust is not just Jewish history, it is British history.

The place of the Holocaust in the British psyche has not happened by chance, and nor has it happened overnight. In 1988, when the Holocaust Educational Trust was formed, the War Crimes Bill was going through Parliament. This Bill was designed to ensure that Nazi war criminals who had settled in the UK could be prosecuted here, in the British courts, and the public discussion at the time highlighted that there were people in every corner of this country, from every background, who either knew about this painful history or wanted to know more. There were teachers who needed guidance on how best to grapple with this most challenging subject. There were survivors who, having rebuilt their lives here in the UK, wanted to share their story.

In the 33 years since then, an infrastructure has been built in the UK – supported both financially and otherwise by our community, allies, successive Governments and philanthropists. Organisations and institutions teaching about the Holocaust, researching the Holocaust, and ensuring the Holocaust is remembered have been embedded across the country. The Holocaust is mandatory on the National Curriculum. Today, teachers are trained at every stage of their career, Holocaust survivors share their testimonies every day of the week, students from every subject area have opportunities to learn about and remember the Holocaust including visits to the sites where the Holocaust took place and policy makers have a chance to understand how and why the Holocaust happened.

Holocaust documentaries or dramas appear regularly on TV, books about the Holocaust are best-sellers, and we have seen celebrities, politicians and even Royalty visiting the sites where the horrors of the past took place and speaking out to ensure that the Holocaust is never forgotten.

But we know we must do even more. We are at a crucial juncture in Holocaust education. Each year we sadly lose several survivors. Soon the Holocaust will make the move from living memory to history. With the loss of eyewitnesses, we need to go further to ensure that their legacy is protected, that the horrors of the past will always be remembered. We must commit to always standing up for the integrity of the past, never allowing the voices of those who deny, distort or manipulate the Holocaust to be loudest.

We all know that antisemitism is on the rise. The past few months have been particularly concerning and the anti-Jewish racism is widespread and hitting record highs. We also know that teaching the Holocaust is not a panacea to solving a hatred that has existed since time began, but those who know about the Holocaust are more sensitised to what happens when antisemitism and hate were left unchecked. Our young Ambassadors at the Holocaust Educational Trust are a testament to that — always striving to learn more, to be allies against antisemitism and protect the truth of the past.

The late Rabbi Lord Sacks said on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the former Nazi death and concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau that “evil happens when people let it happen, and our best defence against it is never to forget where evil leads”.

That is why this announcement is so timely and so important. The UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre will complement and enhance the Holocaust education that is so well embedded in this country. It will stand as a permanent reminder — and a permanent warning — of what can happen when hatred and antisemitism go unchecked. It will give generations to come the chance to grapple with our nation’s role in the Holocaust — the good and the bad, from the liberation of camps by British soldiers to the internment of Jews on British soil. It will tell the stories of the survivors, even when they are no longer here. It will be, for ever, a place where the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered during the Holocaust will be remembered.

Karen Pollock is CEO of the HET