It was deeply humbling to meet survivors of the Holocaust last week at a parliamentary reception hosted by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

They were launching their 2019 campaign, following the theme “Torn from Home” and we heard the experiences of three survivors, including Joan Salter MBE, who was forced to flee to America, separated from her parents, at the age of three, and Hannah Lewis MBE, who was interned in a labour camp in Poland for two years

The experiences of survivors remind us about the importance of marking Holocaust Memorial Day – a day when we remember the millions of people who were affected by the Holocaust and subsequent genocides.

I will be marking Holocaust Memorial Day locally on January 27^th just as I did this year – remaining aware of the memory of the Holocaust is invaluable in the work we do today to ensure it and genocides like it never happen again.  I was also privileged to visit Auschwitz with the Holocaust Education Trust and dozens of local school children as part of their project – Learning the Lessons.