On a visit to Jewish Care’s Holocaust Survivors’ Centre
in Hendon, Mr Brokenshire said the memorial will ensure
we never forget one of the darkest chapters in human
history.
He also announced that a time capsule will be buried at
the proposed site and invited survivors and others to
think about what should go in the capsule alongside their
hopes for the memorial.
Mr Brokenshire met and spoke to survivors about the
challenges they faced as refugees in Britain after the
war, how they went on to build new lives for themselves
and became part of the essential fabric of British life.
It was also an opportunity to discuss the importance of
the new National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre
planned for Victoria Tower Gardens beside Parliament, as
a significant proportion of the centre’s content will be
devoted to survivors’ testimony.
Speaking after the visit to the weekly ‘Yiddish and
Kiddush’ social club held at the Hendon centre, Mr
Brokenshire said:
For more than 70 years the survivors who built a
community here in Hendon have done Britain and the
world a great service.
Through their powerful testimony, in the retelling of
difficult, personal, tragic stories we’ve learnt the
terrible consequences of where bigotry, intolerance and
division can lead.
The striking National Holocaust Memorial and Learning
Centre is a powerful symbol of our commitment to
remembering the men, women and children who were
murdered in the Holocaust but also those who survived
and made their lives in this country.
Rightly located in the shadow of Parliament, it will be
the focal point for national remembrance of the
Holocaust. The view of Parliament from the Memorial
will provide a constant reminder that political
decisions have far-reaching consequences.
The Holocaust remains the worst example of the
disintegration of democratic values and remains
unsurpassed in its horror.
A time capsule will be buried at the site. In a
century’s time, those opening it will be reminded that
survivors fought long and hard for this memorial.
As these first-person testimonies fade with time, the
Memorial and Learning Centre will make sure Britain
will never forget.
Jewish Care’s Holocaust
Survivors’ Centre is the only centre in the UK
designed and run specifically for Holocaust survivors. It
provides outings, lunches, music concerts, talks on art
and culture and therapeutic events 6 days a week.
The Centre also records testimonies and links survivors
to schools so that they can share their experiences with
future generations as well as arranges Holocaust
education trips to Poland.
The United Kingdom
Holocaust Memorial is dedicated to the 6 million
Jewish men, women and children murdered in the Holocaust
and all other victims of the Nazis and their
collaborators.
It will honour and remember all victims and survivors of
the Holocaust and subsequent genocides and educate future
generations on the importance of fighting prejudice and
persecution in all its forms.
The proposals have been developed with great sensitivity
to the existing context and character of Victoria Tower
Gardens. The vast majority of the park’s green space will
be retained and enhanced and views over Parliament and
the river Thames will be improved with a range of
accessible seating and a new boardwalk along the
embankment.
