At an event at the Foreign Office hosted with the Israeli
embassy, the Foreign Secretary , Communities Secretary
, , Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis
and Israeli Ambassador Mark Regev, will gather to honour heroic
men and women with the British Hero of the Holocaust Medal.
The award, whose previous recipients include Sir Nicholas Winton,
recognises those Britons who undertook extraordinary acts of
courage and self-sacrifice, in order to help Jewish people and
others.
Foreign Secretary said:
The moral conviction and bravery of the British Heroes of the
Holocaust should fill us with pride.
These exceptional individuals saved hundreds of lives and went
above and beyond the call of duty in the most difficult
circumstances to do the right thing.
As a government we are committed to ensuring that society
learns the lessons of the Holocaust so that bigotry and
prejudice are given no place to take root.
Communities Secretary said:
Nazi oppression was defeated not only through military force
but also through quiet acts of courage and compassion.
These eight individuals are true British heroes and a source of
national pride for us all, fully deserving of our lasting
respect and lifelong gratitude. Their willingness to stand up
to hate with often little regard to their own personal safety
is an inspiration to us all.
Award Recipients
The eight recipients of the award are:
-
British Diplomats John Carvell and Sir Thomas Preston who
issued almost 1500 Jews with certificates to enable them to
escape to Palestine. Margaret Reid who worked in the Passport
Control Office of the Berlin Embassy and issued visas that
allowed thousands of Jews to emigrate. She often bent the
rules for issuing visas, a practice that was deliberately
overlooked by the British Consul-General Sir George
Ogilvie-Forbes, another recipient of the award;
-
Academic Doreen Warriner and Trevor Chadwick who worked
closely with the ‘British Schindler’ Sir Nicholas Winton in
Prague to organise the evacuation of hundreds of Jewish
children from the then Czechoslavakia to Britain.
-
Dorothea Weber (née LeBrocq) who sheltered her Jewish friend
Hedwig Bercu during the German occupation of the Channel
Islands at great personal risk. She was aided by a German
soldier, Kurt Ruemmele, whom she married after the war and;
-
Otto Schiff who helped to create the Jewish Refugees
Committee which arranged to bring Jews out of Germany and
Austria to Britain during the war, as well as supporting them
financially once here.
This Government is determined that the genocide of six million
Jews will never be forgotten. That is why it will be building a
spectacular and poignant Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre,
right next to Parliament, reminding all of us of the depths to
which humanity can sink, and the importance of robustly opposing
all forms of bigotry. Holocaust Memorial Day 2018 will take place
on Saturday 27 January with thousands of activities and events
taking place across the country at community centres, schools,
libraries, museums, arts venues, prisons and places of worship.
