This week, Alok Sharma, the Member of Parliament for Reading West, signed the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Book of Commitment, in doing so pledging his commitment to Holocaust Memorial Day and honouring those who were murdered during the Holocaust as well as paying tribute to the extraordinary Holocaust survivors who work tirelessly to educate young people today.

This year we are marking 77 years since the liberation of the concentration camps of Europe and the end of the Second World War. On the 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, people across the globe will remember.

In the lead up to and on Holocaust Memorial Day, thousands of commemorative events will be 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 ‘One Day’.

Alok said: 

“Holocaust Memorial Day is an important moment to reflect on a terrible period of history. It is vital that we honour the memories of the six million victims and also pay tribute to the survivors. We must never forget them.”

Karen Pollock CBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: 

“As the Holocaust fades from living memory, it falls on all of us to ensure that their stories and the stories of the 6 Jewish million men, women and children brutally murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, are never forgotten. We all have a duty to remember the Holocaust and to stand up against antisemitism and hate, now more than ever.”

Photo: Alok signing the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Book of Commitment