Stroud MP Siobhan Baillie has signed the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Book of Commitment in parliament ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day this Saturday.
The day honours those who were murdered during the Holocaust as well as paying tribute to the extraordinary survivors who work tirelessly to educate young people today.
It falls on 27th January every year – the anniversary of the liberation of the infamous former Nazi concentration and death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau – in 1945 by Soviet forces.
“Following the Hamas attacks on Israel and the conflict in Gaza, there has been a marked increase in antisemitism across the globe so this day has taken on an added importance this year,” said Baillie.
“The evil of the Holocaust and the more than six million dead is a reminder to us all how intolerance and discrimination can rear its head and spiral out of control.
“Soon and very sadly those who bear witness to what happened in the extermination camps will have left us.
“What remains will be their testimony and our ability to refocus and remember what happened by using Holocaust Memorial Day as our beacon.”
Thousands of commemorative events will be arranged by schools, faith groups and community organisations across the UK on the day to remember all the victims of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides.