Holocaust Memorial Day debate
28th January 2010
Speaking in the House of Commons, David Burrowes highlights the devastating effect the Holocaust had on individual families and he pays tribute to the work of the Holocaust Educational Trust in educating young people about the Holocaust.
Mr. David Burrowes (Enfield, Southgate) (Con): I commend what my hon. Friend is saying. The message that came across to me and the students from my constituency who went to Auschwitz-Birkenau two years ago, which I was reminded of yesterday, was that the holocaust was not just about the huge scale, numbers and evil consequences but about the individual lives lost and the effect on families and communities. Future generations of families were lost, and that message certainly came home yesterday.
I commend the Holocaust Educational Trust for its ongoing work, not just for what happened yesterday. I was appreciative to hear that in my school, holocaust educators do work throughout the curriculum throughout the year to bring the message home.
Robert Neill: I agree entirely with my hon. Friend's sentiments. In fact, I will turn in a moment to some of that work.
The final thing that I was going to say about my visit and the lessons of it was on a point of irony. The evening when we came back from Auschwitz-Birkenau, the leader of the British National party was on "Question Time", which seemed to me a particularly obscene juxtaposition and perhaps reinforced my point about the need for vigilance. Even in societies that we think are sophisticated and democratic, that can be undermined. We must always be alert to that.
