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The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to host reception for Holocaust survivors on Holocaust Memorial Day 2005 and attend event at Westminster Hall

14th October 2004

The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, will host a reception for survivors of the Holocaust on Thursday 27 January 2005 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps. The event will be held at St James’ Palace. Her Majesty will meet Holocaust survivors and British veterans who liberated the camps.

Later in the day, The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, will represent the Nation at the Holocaust Memorial Day National Event. The event, organised by the Home Office, will take place at Westminster Hall.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said:

“Holocaust Memorial Day remains a day of huge importance to our nation not only because it inspires and encourages us to act on the lessons of the Holocaust to challenge intolerance and racism wherever we find it today.

“The fifth national commemoration in London next year brings together survivors and liberators and it is especially fitting and meaningful for this national event that the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will host this reception. I hope that as many people as possible will join in paying respects to these survivors and learning from their testimony.”

Holocaust Memorial Day falls on 27th January 2005 and coincides with the 60th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp. Stories of survivors, liberators and rebuilding lives will be a central theme of this year’s events.

This is a significant and rare occasion involving first hand witnesses and survivors of the Holocaust. The 27 January 2005 will be an occasion for all people in the UK, irrespective of cultural background, to remember and contemplate events, past and present, where hatred, xenophobia and racism have combined to cause such suffering.

Notes to Editors

Holocaust Memorial Day has been an annual event in the UK since 2001. It is held each year on the 27th January to coincide with the liberation of Auschwitz. The purpose of the day is to commemorate all victims of Nazi persecution and to show that the events of the Holocaust remain relevant to everyone in the UK today. Holocaust Memorial Day 2005 will be marked by thirteen countries across Europe, including Germany, Italy and France.

Home Secretary David Blunkett announced that London would host the fifth National Holocaust Memorial Day on 21 July 2004.

The first Holocaust Memorial Day was held on 27 January 2001 with the national commemoration in London. Subsequent national events have been hosted by Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast. The date is significant as it was on that day in 1945 that the former Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated. In 2005 it will be the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

On 27 January 2000, some forty four governments, including the UK, attended the Stockholm Forum on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research. The Forum set out to give support, education and research to better equip governments to combat racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance as they manifest themselves in contemporary society. At the conclusion of the conference the heads of the delegations unanimously agreed to sign the Declaration of the Stockholm Forum. As a part of Holocaust Memorial Day, the principles of the Declaration have been adapted into a seven-point Statement of Commitment as a benchmark for understanding the aims and objectives of the day.