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On Tuesday this week, thousands gathered in the freezing snow at Auschwitz, to commemorate one of the darkest anniversaries in our history. Holocaust survivors, liberators, the international press and representatives of Holocaust organisations across the world marked the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the camp, which is commemorated annually as Holocaust Memorial Day.
When I think back to 2001 and the early days of Holocaust Memorial Day, I am so proud at the way this day has grown and gathered momentum. This year has again shown the incredible reach of the day – from school students taking part in workshops and assemblies and local events across the country, to the national event, organised by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and broadcast by the BBC. But when we mark the 100th anniversary, we will do so in a different world, one with few if any living witnesses to the Holocaust. The 70th anniversary has taken on great significance for us all, and has sharpened the sense of urgency we all have to consider how we learn about and remember the Holocaust in the future.
There are some who believe that as time passes, we should move on. Surely, they argue, everyone already knows about the Holocaust, and we have learned its lessons. But in recent months, we have once again been reminded that antisemitism did not end with the liberation of the camps – it still exists here, on the streets of Britain – slogans are shouted on the streets, vile comments are spewed on social media and once again, Jews across Europe are apprehensive. We must be more alert than ever to the threat of antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
At the Holocaust Educational Trust's Appeal Dinner in 2013, the Prime Minister announced he would establish a Commission to ensure that this country continues to remember the Holocaust for generations to come. The Commission's recommendations on Holocaust Memorial Day have once again focussed our minds. We are reminded that the notion that everyone already knows about the Holocaust is flawed – research has shown that not only do a third of young people massively underestimate the figures of those killed in the Holocaust, but that less than a third know what antisemitism is – compared to over half who understand Islamaphobia and 90 per cent who can define homophobia. It is clear that there are pockets of the country that we are not reaching, who do not experience Holocaust education and do not know fundamental facts of the Holocaust. There is still work to do.
The establishment of a permanent memorial to the Holocaust and an accompanying learning centre, with funding of no less than £50 million endorsed by all parties, is a hugely important step forward at this crucial juncture. It also speaks to the relevance of the Holocaust in this country; the 10,000 Jewish children who sought refuge here before the war; and the men of the 11th armoured division of the British Army who liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. These servicemen witnessed unimaginable horrors and worked to nurse the dying back to life, many of whom settled in the UK. I much hope that the Memorial will serve to remind us that the Holocaust isn't just a story of people from somewhere else. It is a human story, it is our story.
One day soon there will be a place, here in Britain, where we can go to pay tribute, to remember and to learn. The next time we are asked where our memorial is to the Holocaust in the UK, we will know how to answer. Survivors and their children can feel safe in the knowledge that beyond their lifetime, people will have a place to go, where they can reflect and pay homage and learn about these incredible and inspiring people who endured such terror. Over the last 15 years I have come to know and love the survivors I have had the privilege to work with. They desperately want to ensure that people know what happened to them and their families and I am proud that we can now say to them, your legacy is safe in Britain's hands.
The writer is Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust