This afternoon I was pleased to join the Speaker of the House at the Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony in Parliament following speeches in the House of Commons.
Some have asked why Holocaust Memorial Day is important to me.
When we first recognised Holocaust Memorial Day, I only believed my family had a loose Jewish link.
Five years ago we knew the names of 61 of my grandfather’s Dutch cousins who died in the Holocaust and in the war.
We now know 122, twice as many.
The pain of remembering may help to bring hope for the future.
The speeches today have been important and moving. I sat and listened to them without contributing. The words of others meant so much.
This annual event is a day of remembrance and learning.
I echo desires to further recognise atrocities and genocides that have come since. We must learn as a human race. We work to eradicate ignorance and intolerance.
We remember the many more millions of Slavic, Roma, disabled, Jehovah’s Witnesses, political opponents and homosexuals also murdered during World War Two by the Nazis.
We recognise the genocides which have followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur.
I repeat this every year: meet hatred with love, and division with unity.
