The Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) has welcomed the government’s pledge of an additional £2 million towards Holocaust education announced in the budget.

In the House of Commons on Wednesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves paid tribute to Lily Ebert, the Holocaust survivor and educator who passed away aged 100 earlier this month. She told MPs it was important to “remember those who experienced the Nazi atrocities first hand.”

She continued: “I am today committing a further £2 million for Holocaust education next year, so that charities like the Holocaust Educational Trust can continue their work to ensure that these vital testimonies are not lost and are preserved for the future.”

HET’s Chief Executive Karen Pollock CBE told the JC that the announcement was “fantastic news.”

She added: “We are hugely grateful to the Chancellor for recognising the crucial juncture we face as Holocaust survivors become fewer and frailer, and for emphasising the importance of ensuring their testimony is preserved and accessible for generations to come.

Pollock also emphasised the need for finding new ways of preserving the stories of survivors: “Using innovative technology, our programme Testimony 360: People and Places of the Holocaust (launched earlier this year), ensures young people will always have the opportunity to hear and interact with the powerful testimonies of eyewitnesses, as well as virtually explore the sites associated with the testimony – all from their seat in the classroom.”

She continued: “With the surge in antisemitism today and as the Holocaust moves from living history to history, this work could not be more vital or urgent."

In September this year, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer spoke at HET’s annual dinner in which he promised to keep Holocaust education on the national curriculum in schools “come what may” and said it was “a new national ambition … That as part of their education, every student in the country should have the opportunity to hear a recorded survivor testimony.”

The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) also expressed gratitude following the Budget and Reeves’ announcement for Holocaust education funding.

“As the survivor generation dwindles and antisemitism in this country and around the world soars, it is critical now, more than ever before, that we spread and perpetuate memory of the Holocaust,” said AJR chief executive, Michael Newman.