Cameron’s commission plans major memorial and centre
commemoration at Central Hall, Westminster
Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony
A PROMINENT national Holocaust memorial and learning centre will be built to make a “bold statement” about the importance Britain puts on preserving the memory of the Shoah, David Cameron has announced.
There will also be an endowment fund to secure the long-term future of Shoah education and an urgent programme to record the testimony of British survivors and concentration camp liberators.
An independent UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation will be formed to immediately work on purchasing land for the memorial and to begin documenting survivors’ stories, the Prime Minister revealed at the national HMD service.
The projects are seen as a once-in-alifetime opportunity and are the result of recommendations made byMr Cameron’s Holocaust Commission, which was launched last year as a cross-party, multi-faith group to investigate ways of educating future generations of Britons about the genocide.
“Today we stand together — whatever our faith, whatever our creed, whatever our politics,” Mr Cameron said. “We stand in remembrance of those who were murdered in the darkest hour of human history. We stand in admiration of what our Holocaust survivors have given to our country and we stand united in our resolve to fight prejudice and discrimination in all its forms.”
Mick Davis, who chaired the commission, said people were dissatisfied with the current Shoah memorial garden in Hyde Park, which was unveiled in 1983. The new memorial will have a number of key characteristics, including a place for prayer, interactive elements, factual information, and details on Britain’s efforts during the Shoah.
“It should keep the memory of the six million Jews as its central focus,” Mr Davis told the JC. “But it will also feature the other victims of Nazi persecution.”
Architects and other designers will have the opportunity to bid to design the memorial. It is hoped it will be built by 2017.
Three sites in London are being considered — at the Imperial War Museum, near Millbank in Westminster, and near the Tower of London.
The aim is to build the learning centre by the end of the next Parliament in 2020. Mr Davis said the plans were “ambitious, but realistic”.
Around £50 million of government funding will be made available, but private philanthropy would be needed to raise a similar amount.
“The most powerful thing for me is that all three parties have signed up for it,” Mr Davis added.
“At the start of a hardfought election campaign, the parties have come together and said this is above politics.
“I t ’ s b e e n an incredible experience. W e h a v e d o n e t h i s in one year
Mick Davis exactly. The use of technology, the breadth of the learning centre and the possibility of a research chair at a university will mark a significant step forward in terms of Holocaust education.”
The new foundation will be led by Arts Council England chair Sir Peter Bazalgette.
Mr Davis said the recording of testimony would be “future-proofed” to ensure it could be accessed using new technologies for decades to come.
The learning centre would be built next to the memorial and would aim to attract “vast numbers” of visitors. Among its features would be an online hub to bring together the work of existing Holocaust organisations and to extend education efforts nationwide.
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who oversaw the commission’s work, said “it has never been more important than it is today for humanity to learn the lessons of the Holocaust. Only through learning about the darkest period in human history can we ensure it will not be repeated.”
The commission worked with international groups including Yad Vashem and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington during its research. There are proposals for an international summit to be held in L o n d o n when the learning c e n t r e opens.