Holocaust Memorial Day: Wakefield MP signs Holocaust Education Trust's Book of Commitment

Wakefield’s MP Simon Lightwood has pledged his commitment to Holocaust Memorial Day, honouring all those murdered as well as paying tribute to the extraordinary survivors who work tirelessly to educate young people today.

Holocaust Memorial Day falls on January 27 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 were 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 ‘Ordinary People’.

On Holocaust Memorial Day people are also remembering, and paying 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 and remembering all of those affected by genocide since, in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

After signing the Holocaust Education Trust's Book of Commitment, Mr Lightwood said: “Holocaust Memorial Day is an important opportunity for people from Wakefield, Horbury and Ossett to reflect on the darkest times of European history.

"Today, I pledge to remember the six million Jewish men, women and children who were murdered in Holocaust.”

Karen Pollock CBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “On Holocaust Memorial Day we remember the six million men, women and children who were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, simply for being Jewish, and we pay tribute to the incredible survivors, many of whom still share their testimony day in and day out to ensure that future generations never forget the horrors of the past.

"We also remember that antisemitism did not start or end with the Holocaust, we must all be vigilant, and speak out whenever it is found.”

The Holocaust Educational Trust was founded in 1988 with a mission to raise awareness and understanding in schools and amongst the wider public of the Holocaust and its relevance today.

It is their belief that the Holocaust must have a permanent place in our nation’s collective memory.