Sadiq Khan: 'It’s ever more important that we hear survivors’ stories'

“Progress in opposing hatred and promoting equality must never be taken for granted. That’s why it’s ever more important that we hear survivors’ stories and remember the horrors of the death camps and the millions who died.

“As we mark 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, I encourage Londoners of all backgrounds to stand in solidarity with the Jewish community, remembering the six million Jewish lives that were lost during the Holocaust, as well as victims and survivors of genocides across the world. Only by standing together can we ensure it never happens again.”

Another speaker at the event was Holocaust Memorial Day Trust chief executive Olivia Marks-Woldman, who told the JC that "the murder of six million Jews, systematically, deliberately, should be commemorated by everybody.

“The fact that it happened on such an industrial scale is absolutely shocking and should shock us. We know that antisemitism didn’t disappear after the end of the Holocaust and, in fact, is on the increase, as is prejudice for people of other forms of identity. And the other, crucial reason is that genocide didn’t disappear after the Holocaust.”

Rabbi Barry Marcus and Jewish Music Institute representatives Francesca Ter-Berg and Flora Curzon also participated in the ceremony.