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The Holocaust must never be forgotten - PM

22 January 2008

Gordon Brown has made an impassioned plea for the Holocaust never to be forgotten.

Ahead of the Memorial Day on Sunday, Mr Brown met Holocaust survivor Zigi Shipper, 78, at Downing Street and signed the Holocaust Day 'Book of Commitment'. The book sits in the Houses of Parliament in the week up to the Memorial Day and serves as a reminder to future generations of the atrocities which occurred.

The PM, who said it was "a privilege" to meet Mr Shipper, wrote in the book:

"As the philosopher George Santayana said, 'Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it'.

"That is why we must remember the Holocaust - not only as a defining tragedy but as a warning - to rededicate ourselves to doing all we can to never allow this to happen again.

"We must pay tribute to those who perished and educate our children to take a stand against hatred, intolerance and persecution wherever and whenever it is found.

"In the words of Chief Rabbi Sacks, 'We can not change the past but each of us, by challenging prejudice and tolerance, can help change the future'."

Mr Shipper, of Bushey, Herts, spent time in Auschwitz in 1944 and was liberated from a camp in Germany the following year. He settled in Britain after the war and now, as part of a programme run by the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET), Mr Shipper visits schools and talks about his experience to help educate people about the Holocaust.

Mr Shipper told the Prime Minister he was "proud to be here and proud to be British". He said afterwards: "I feel that when I talk about the Holocaust, I owe it to the people that did not survive, because there is nobody to speak for them."

Also at the meeting was Karen Pollock, Chief Executive of the HET, and the Trust's Chairman, Lord Janner, who said: "We are grateful to the Prime Minister, who when Chancellor, started a programme giving us funds to send youngsters to Auschwitz so they can learn about what happened and pass on the word when they come home."

The Prime Minister continues his support to the Trust, which was established in 1988, with a yearly grant of £1.5 million.