Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer emphasised that “never again must mean never again” in response to the poignant collection of accounts from those who saw the Shoah up close
April 15, 2025 15:21
The prime minister has marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen by British soldiers by sharing a video compiling the testimony of the camp’s survivors and those who freed them.
Sir Keir Starmer shared the compilation to his X profile featuring Mervyn Kersh and Stanley Fisher, who participated in the liberation, and Renee Salt, who was held at the camp.
Thousands of dead bodies were found by British forces along with 55,000 survivors without food, water or sanitation.
Today we mark the 80th anniversary of the British liberation of Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.
Thank you to survivors and British troops like Renee, Mervyn and Stanley for putting the truth of the Holocaust on record for eternity.
Never again must mean never again. pic.twitter.com/Tu78evgfm0
Fisher, who is Jewish, said that what he saw at the camp gave him “nightmares for quite a few years”, describing the sight of starving survivors resembling “human skeletons”. “I think you could say you could smell death”, he added.
“What human beings could do to human beings. Unbelievable”, he went on, reflecting on the horrors inflicted by the Nazis on those held at the camp.
His words were also shared by the Ministry of Defence on social media: “My fellow Jews were slaughtered for no reason other than they were Jewish, and that hurt.”
It’s 80 years since the British Army liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) April 15, 2025
Stanley Fisher, a Jewish soldier in the Army, visited the camp shortly after its liberation.
“My fellow Jews were slaughtered for no reason other than they were Jewish, and that hurt.”#VEDay80 pic.twitter.com/WxQM3cayVp
Likewise, Kersh recalled the sight of those few survivors fit enough to walk as “shocking”.And Salt described collapsing moments before the camp’s liberation as a result of the terrible conditions the now 95-year-old had to endure: “I didn’t know anything, I was unconscious at the liberation.”
“I suffered from the cold more than the hunger if that’s possible”, she added.
In his post on X, Starmer wrote: “Thank you to survivors and British troops like Renee, Mervyn and Stanley for putting the truth of the Holocaust on record for eternity. Never again must mean never again.”
Karen Pollock CBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) told the JC: “At 100 years of age, Stanley’s recollections of Bergen-Belsen continue to drive home the stark reality of what the British Forces encountered as they entered this infamous site.”
She added: “His eyewitness account serves to support the testimonies of the Holocaust survivors who endured the horror of Bergen-Belsen and highlights the real, British link to this history. It is imperative that we record all of these accounts before it is too late and we are very grateful to the prime minister for his continued support of Holocaust education and remembrance. It was a privilege to be in Stanley’s company and to hear his testimony.”
Earlier this year, Salt and Kersh were amongst survivors hosted in Downing Street for afternoon tea ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day. During the meeting, Salt shared a copy of her memoirs with Sir Keir Starmer.
On their X profile, HET also shared the report by the BBC’s Richard Dimbleby, the first broadcaster to enter Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after it was liberated by British troops, who described the terrible conditions endured by survivors at the hands of the Nazis.
His broadcast included details about the use of the crematoriums to burn people alive and the huge piles of emaciated bodies of victims of the Nazis.