ITV’s Good Morning Britain has issued an apology after acknowledging that its Holocaust Memorial Day coverage on Monday failed to properly address the genocide of Jewish people.
During yesterday’s coverage Ranvir Singh discussed the millions who died in concentration camps during World War II, saying that “Six million people were killed in concentration camps during the Second World War, as well as millions of others because they were Polish, disabled, gay, or belonged to another ethnic group.”
The word "Jewish" was not mentioned until over two minutes into the segment, and only in reference to a group of history students visiting Krakow's Jewish quarter.
A news anchor from GMB addressed viewers this morning, saying “In yesterday’s news, it was reported that six million people were killed in the Holocaust, but we failed to mention that those six million were predominantly Jewish. That was our mistake, and we apologise.”
Critics were quick to point out the omission, highlighting that the focus on Jewish victims was delayed and downplayed.
The journalist Nicole Lampert, criticising the coverage, wrote on social media: “The whole thing is so strange and shows why for many Jewish people, the pain of Holocaust Memorial Day is compounded by the way it’s used to trivialise Jewish suffering or even attack us.”
North West Friends of Israel said: “GMB you are are missing ONE word... JEWS! Six million JEWS! This is disgraceful.”
The segment also failed to mention antisemitism, prompting further backlash.
Campaign Against Antisemitism stated: “There is bafflingly no mention of the word ‘antisemitism’ whatsoever. If this was meant to pay respect to Holocaust victims, it has utterly missed the mark and ignored the true nature of this horrific event.”
A spokesperson from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust told the JC: “We are deeply disappointed and saddened by Good Morning Britain’s omission of the word ‘Jews’ in their live coverage of Holocaust Memorial Day. This oversight undermines the core historical truth of the Holocaust – the systematic murder of six million Jewish men, women, and children.
"Such omissions, whether intentional or not, contribute to a dangerous dilution of the Holocaust’s lessons and significance, particularly at a time when antisemitism is alarmingly on the rise. At the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, we remain steadfast in putting the six million Jewish lives destroyed by Nazis at the centre of our work.”
