I am pleased to gather with you here on such a significant and important day…
As we remember the six million Jewish men, women and children who were murdered by the Nazis…
And as we remember all victims of Nazi persecution – from Roma communities to gay and disabled people.
Alongside all victims of genocide across history.
An occasion for us to commemorate and to learn.
And also, to combine remembrance with resolve.
To spur us to work even harder to tackle the scourge of antisemitism…
And to relentlessly confront prejudice, persecution and hate…
The violent and corrosive effects of which are all too present in our own society today…
And so tragically evident across the world.
Thank you to Daniela for co-hosting today’s event – a joint initiative with the FCDO that goes back over a decade.
And thank you to the Holocaust Educational Trust, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, and to the Association of Jewish Refugees…
For their essential, longstanding work and their contributions to this event…
And for creating such powerful exhibitions that I encourage you all to view today.
The theme of this year’s Memorial Day is ‘bridging generations.’
Reminding us that responsibility for remembrance does not end with the survivors…
Instead, it must reverberate through those that follow.
Through all of us.
A bridge across years…
But also a bridge to join memory and action…
A bridge across generations. So that our engagement with horrors past animates our engagement with horrors present.
Something that I discussed earlier with Holocaust survivor Mala Tribich who I am honoured is with us today. Huge thank you for being with us today.
She has now spoken at countless national events and, perhaps most importantly, to tens of thousands of students across the country.
Mala who for many years found it too painful to talk about her experiences and who has shown such strength and bravery speaking out and will kindly speak shortly to share her story.
For decades, Holocaust survivors have carried the truth across time.
Sharing achingly distressing experiences with extraordinary courage, so future generations would know what happened – and would never forget.
Each personal testimony an act of generosity to humanity…
Bestowing the gift of truth, of wisdom so that we may honour their suffering…
By reckoning with the meaning of their experiences…
And by taking action in our own lives to make real the all too easy phrase of ‘never again’. To make that real.
Each year, fewer survivors remain.
Each time a survivor’s voice falls silent, we are reminded that soon there will be no first‑hand witnesses.
Their absence does not bring an end to remembrance.
It simply places it firmly in our hands.
So that we carry and reinforce it through education, dialogue and action.
I’d want to say how pleased we are to have the presence today of Meg Davis – Young Ambassador of the Holocaust Educational Trust- who has contributed so much to this cause.
And because education remains our strongest defence.
Lest the passage of time dulls the urgency of the lessons.
Or is exploited for the distortion of truth, the manipulation of facts, or – even more shockingly – the antisemitic denial of Holocaust altogether.
Because truth does not endure on its own. It endures because people chose to humanise it, to share it and to defend it.
That is why I’m so pleased that Parliament has now, finally, passed the Holocaust Memorial Act, which received its Royal Assent late last week and passed through Parliament.
A vital step towards establishing the national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre…
That this government has so long championed…
And that we want to see built just a few hundred metres from where we stand today.
At Victoria Tower Gardens.
A location so close to Parliament is fitting because we must never forget that the road to the Holocaust began in a democracy.
I am also pleased to announce that Jon Pearce will be appointed as UK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust issues.
To give advice and push forward UK policy – including promoting Holocaust education, remembrance and research here and around the world.
Jon who brings his deep personal commitment, having spoken movingly in the House exactly a year ago of his trip to Yad Vashem and of standing in the Hall of Names, overwhelmed by Pages of Testimony detailing the individual lives so brutally cut short.
We mark Holocaust Memorial Day at a time of successive repugnant attacks on Jews here in the UK and overseas.
Jews killed for being Jews. In the twenty first century.
The appalling Manchester synagogue attack of 2 October during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
The terrorist murders in December as Australian families gathered at Bondi Beach to celebrate the joyful time of Chanukah…
Instead facing an unimaginable ordeal and loss of life.
And the ever-present, horrific October 7 Hamas attacks – the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
All the grieving families and friends are in our thoughts today.
The loved ones of Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz and all the congregants of Heaton Park Synagogue.
The parents of Ran Gvili in such anguish and pain as the wait continues for the return of his remains.
And all communities mourning victims and facing hate today.
Here in the UK, I want to pay tribute to the light of the Jewish community that shines so brightly in our country, enhancing in so many areas our communal life.
The volunteers from Community Security Trust guarding against attacks and protecting communal events…
The fantastic, life-saving work of Jewish Women’s Aid, who support victims of domestic abuse.
The brilliance of Mitzvah Day – with thousands of people volunteering in their communities up and down the country.
The humanitarian work of World Jewish Relief, helping keep Ukrainian families warm this winter in the face of Russian aggression.
And I want to say clearly on behalf of this Government.
That we stand with the Jewish community today and every day…
Unresolving in our resolve to tackle those who spread the poison of antisemitism online and on our streets. Unrelenting in our determination to stand against antisemitism.
Hence further allocations to the CST through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant.
Including for additional security staff and equipment following the Manchester attacks.
The Home Office’s independent review of public order and hate crime legislation…
Steps in the education sector to tackle antisemitism in schools, universities and colleges…
In the NHS through Lord Mann’s review of the regulatory system for healthcare professionals…
And in my role as Foreign Secretary, I will continue to work with counterparts around the world to tackle the global of rise of antisemitism.
Including close collaboration with Canada and Australia in the wake of recent attacks.
Just as I am committed to preventing atrocities and pushing for accountability wherever they occur – from Sudan to Iran.
We cannot only be witnesses to memory.
We are its custodians.
How we remember shapes how we act for the future.
And how we act shapes the world we pass on.
By bridging generations, we honour those who were lost.
We defend those who remain.
And we protect those yet to come.
Thank you.
