Sir Keir Starmer, UK’s Prime Minister, has reinforced his commitment to ensure every school teaches their students about the Holocaust. He insists the society must make “never again” a tangible goal, especially as the world remembers the Holocaust Memorial Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Sir Keir proclaimed that learning about the Holocaust will become a national effort as he believes remembrance and action go hand-in-hand.
Holocaust Memorial Day is held every year on January 27. The event commemorates six million Jews murdered in World War II by Nazi persecution and all the other Nazi survivors. It also stands to remember genocide from the past and those still happening today. Auschwitz-Birkenau was the biggest concentration camp that the Nazis used for their goal of eradicating Europe’s Jewish population. On Monday, King Charles will join victims, survivors, and other dignitaries in a commemorative service in the former concentration camp.
Sir Keir highlights the message of the Holocaust Memorial Day by warning humanity that “it happened, and it can happen again.” More importantly, he stresses that every person should remember that thousands of ordinary people with uncontrollable hatred towards others collectively executed the Holocaust. In his words, “the Holocaust was a collective endeavour by thousands of ordinary people utterly consumed by the hatred of difference. That is the hatred we stand against today, and it is a collective endeavour for all of us to defeat it.”
Moreover, this year’s reflection on the Holocaust Memorial Day is necessary because of the emergence of antisemitism globally. In a statement marking the event, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch reiterates the importance of confronting its resurgence urgently. Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, enjoins vigilance in sustaining peace, upholding human rights, showing compassion, and guarding against hatred, discrimination, and oppression. The Prince of Wales will join other officials in London to mark the anniversary. However, King Charles will make history as the first-ever British monarch to visit Auschwitz and meet Poland’s President Andrzej Duda
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