Chichester MP marks Holocaust Memorial Day with renewed pledge to tackle antisemitism

Mrs Keegan also paid tribute to Holocaust survivors and their families who work tirelessly to educate young people today.

Commenting to local media, the MP, who is also the Secretary of State for Education, said: “We must ensure that as memories of the Holocaust fade, the lessons do not.

“In recent months I've been deeply horrified to see the scenes of antisemitism taking place on the streets of Britain, in the aftermath of Hamas' horrific terrorism in Israel.

“We have a truly extraordinary group people in Chichester whose families were murdered or persecuted by the Nazis who do fantastic work to educate people today and ensure that when we say ‘never again’, we really mean it.”

Holocaust Memorial Day falls on 27th January every year, the anniversary of the liberation of the infamous former Nazi concentration and death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, in 1945. Across the UK – and world – people will come together to remember the horrors of the past.

In the lead up to and on Holocaust Memorial Day, thousands of commemorative events have been arranged by schools, faith groups and community organisations across the country, remembering all the victims of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides. The theme for this year’s commemorations is ‘Fragility of Freedom’.

On Holocaust Memorial Day people also remember and pay tribute to all of those persecuted by the Nazis, including Roma and Sinti people, disabled people, gay men, political opponents to the Nazis and others. The day is also used to remember all of those affected by genocide since, in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

Karen Pollock CBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “On Holocaust Memorial Day, we remember the six million Jewish men, women and children who were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, and we honour those who survived.

“When the concentration camps of Europe were liberated, the reality of the Nazi attempt to eradicate world Jewry became clear. In newspapers, cinema and radio broadcasts the atrocities were laid bare. The phrase ‘Never Again’ was coined, reflecting the hope that the Holocaust would forever represent the ultimate result of anti-Jewish hatred; a warning signal for generations to come of where unchecked antisemitism could lead.

“This Holocaust Memorial Day, as antisemitism once again sweeps across the globe, it is more important than ever to remember the six million Jewish victims and remind ourselves that anti-Jewish racism did not begin nor end with the Holocaust.”