Abstract
On Sunday 27 January 2013, an estimated 1500 events took place around Britain to mark Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) and the 68th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.1 These events ranged from interfaith ceremonies to talks by Holocaust survivors, photographic exhibitions and film screenings. As has become common in recent years, the lead-up to HMD was characterised by Members of Parliament signing a Book of Commitment in the House of Commons, pledging their support for the occasion and demonstrating the extent to which Holocaust commemoration has become institutionalised. In keeping with the development of social media, Prime Minister David Cameron even took to Twitter, declaring, ‘Memorial Day is a day to remember the innocent victims of the Holocaust and re-commit to combat all forms of racism and prejudice.’2
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Notes
See Donald Bloxham, ‘British War Crimes Trial Policy in Germany, 1945–1957: Implementation and Collapse’, The Journal of British Studies, 42(1) (2003), 91–118
Yehuda Bauer cited in Kushner, The Holocaust and the Liberal Imagination, 258. The same statement is also reproduced in [auAndy Pearce, ‘The Development of Holocaust Consciousness in Contemporary Britain, 1979–2001’, Holocaust Studies, 14(2) (2008), 72
Steven Cooke, ‘Negotiating Memory and Identity: The Hyde Park Holocaust Memorial, London’, Journal of Historical Geography, 26(3) (2000), 452.
Tony Kushner, ‘Too Little, Too Late? Reflections on Britain’s Holocaust Memorial Day’, Journal of Israeli History Politics, Society, Culture, 23(1) (2004), 118.
For a summary of this divide, see David Cesarani, ‘Seizing the Day: Why Britain Will Benefit From Holocaust Memorial Day’, Patterns of Prejudice, 34(4) (2000) 61–66.
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© 2013 Caroline Sharples and Olaf Jensen
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Sharples, C., Jensen, O. (2013). Introduction. In: Sharples, C., Jensen, O. (eds) Britain and the Holocaust. The Holocaust and its Contexts. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137350770_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137350770_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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