Political and community leaders join HMD events

By Justin Cohen - Thursday 26th January 2012


Leaders of the three main political parties this week joined schools and councils in marking Holocaust Memorial Day.

The annual commemoration, now in its 12th year and with the theme Speak Up Speak Out, coincides with tomorrow's 67th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. David Cameron and Nick Clegg both signed the Holocaust Educational Trust's Book of Commitment - which gives signatories the opportunity to pledge their commitment to challenging all forms of prejudice - during a visit to Downing Street by a delegation headed by Lord Janner and including survivor Ben Helfgott.

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Cameron - who later spoke of Helfgott's "inspiring" story and paid tribute to the work of the HET during Wednesday's PMQs - said: "With each year that passes since the end of the Holocaust, we have a greater responsibility than ever to remember the dreadful events that took place. By learning from history, we must pledge that nothing like this ever happens again."

Ed Miliband, who has spoken publicly of his parents' escape from the Nazis, also added his own message to the book, writing: "Speak up, speak out is an essential message for us all as we remember the Holocaust. It reminds us that we must never forget the terrible genocide perpetrated against Jews. We owe it to all those who perished to remember and speak up against anti-Semitism. We must speak out against injustice and bigotry wherever we find it."

A pledge developed by the HMD Trust is asking people to vow to "challenge the language of hatred when I hear it and never use it myself" and "carefully consider how I use my voice and will tell others how I feel in a way that does not harm or offend, whether I am speaking, online or in writing". A pledge wall will also be located in Trafalgar Square today.

This year's national ceremony will once again take place in the capital, with politicians and religious leaders joining survivors of genocides for an exhibition and commemorative event in central London today. At City Hall, meanwhile, the Greater London Authority held its annual ceremony on Tuesday, featuring personal testimony by Auschwitz survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and music by her grandson Abraham Jacobs-Wallfisch. Mayor Boris Johnson said: "Holocaust Memorial Day is our chance to remember the lives lost, as well as the resilience of the survivors and everyone affected by one of the darkest periods in human history."

Among the boroughs to hold events was Barnet, where hundreds heard from Sir Erich Reich, chairman of the Kindertransport Group of the Association of Jewish Refugees, who fled Poland as a young child with his brothers in 1939.

Camden Council's event will be held tomorrow evening - after the start of Shabbat. The council said the mayor's attendance at many other commemorations, including at the Jewish Museum, prevented it from taking place earlier.

Elsewhere, leaders of several community organisations will give readings at the London Jewish Cultural Centre's event while British historian Sir Ian Kershaw spoke about the Nazi's decision-making and the role of individuals at the HET's Lord Merlyn-Rees Memorial Lecture in the Houses of Parliament.

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