The UK’s Special Envoy for post-Holocaust Issues, the Rt Hon Sir
and the former Secretary of
State for Children, Schools and Families, the Rt Hon , have today (18 April 2018) been appointed by the Prime
Minister as co-chairs of the Holocaust Memorial Foundation
Advisory Board. They replace Sir Peter Bazalgette chairman of the
Board since 2015.
The advisory board is supporting the delivery of the UK’s new
Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre that is proposed for
Victoria Tower Gardens beside the Houses of Parliament.
Co-chair Sir said:
It is an honour to follow Sir Peter, who has done outstanding
work with the Foundation. I am very much looking forward to
working alongside Ed. Together we will work to produce a
memorial and a learning space that will enhance and complement
existing work by government and organisations supporting
Holocaust remembrance. Its location next to Parliament
emphasises the importance the UK places in remembering mass
murder that defined the twentieth century.
Co-chair said:
We all share a great responsibility across society to ensure
that the lessons of the Holocaust are never forgotten, and over
the last 4 years, as a member of the Holocaust Commission and
then the Foundation, I have been inspired by the survivors I
have met and deeply moved by their testimonies. I’m therefore
honoured to be appointed co-chair of the Foundation with Sir
Eric.
It is our task to ensure that Britain’s national memorial and
learning centre serves both as a permanent record of the past
and a clear warning for the future. There is much excellent
work already going on in the UK, which we will build on, and
around the world, which we can learn from, and like Eric, I am
hugely grateful to Sir Peter Bazalgette for all he has done to
date, and to the Prime Minister for putting her trust in us to
see this vital project through to completion.
Welcoming their appointment, Communities Secretary said:
Congratulations to Sir Eric and on becoming co-chairs of the UK
Holocaust Memorial Foundation Advisory Board. They will both
bring their valuable insight to building the vision for this
vital project. I look forward to working with them to deliver a
world class memorial and learning centre. It will not only
honour and remember all victims and survivors of the Holocaust
and subsequent genocides, but educate future generations on the
importance of fighting prejudice and persecution in all its
forms.
Under the chairmanship of Sir Eric and , the advisory board will help define the overall vision
for the Memorial and Learning Centre and deepen understanding of
the facts and lessons to be learnt from the Holocaust and
subsequent genocides.
They will work with the Housing and Communities Secretary
and the Ministry of Housing,
Communities and Local Government which has overall responsibility
for the completion, design and build of the Memorial and Centre.
In October last year, Adjaye Associates, Ron Arad Architects and
the landscape architects Gustafson Porter + Bowman were announced
as the winning team to design the
Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre. They were selected by
a jury that included the Secretary of State for Communities and
Local Government, the Mayor of London, the Chief Rabbi, experts
from architecture, art and design, and both first and second
generation Holocaust survivors.
With cross-party support, the government has committed £50
million for the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre which
will be supplemented through fundraising.
The other members of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation
advisory board are:
- The Rt Hon
- Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis
- Natasha Kaplinsky OBE
- Gerald Ronson CBE
- Alice Greenwald
- The Rt Hon the
- Lord David Alliance
- Baroness Dido Harding
- Peter Freeman
