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At a lecture for Holocaust Educational Trust this evening, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:
It’s a pleasure to be here at this annual Lord Merlyn-Rees lecture.
A former Home Secretary - someone who fought in Southern Italy as a Spitfire pilot, who worked many years later to help establish the Holocaust Educational Trust in 1988.
The aim and work of the trust remains to educate young people from every backgrounds about the Holocaust and why it is so important and relevant to us today.
That work is pressing. Especially as already this year the world has been dealt tragedy from the evil of terrorism and prejudice.
WHY WE REMEMBER THE HOLOCAUST
As we approach the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the work of the Holocaust Educational Trust is more important than ever.
For me, visiting Yad Vashem four years ago, it was the personal stories - the diaries, the letters, the voices that had such power.
A letter from Ellie Kulka to her Husband, written in 1944 in Auschwitz
“My darling, On this, the last night of my life, I bid you farewell. ..I am remembering our love, from its beautiful beginning until its cruel end. And our innocent little Otto – why has it been decreed that this rough, ruthless hand should put an end to his short life? I remember my loved ones for the last time. If you are lucky enough to see them again… I wish them all a happier life than our own.”
So many stories from the Yad Vashem archive, that teachers use, that the Holocaust Educational Trust uses for the next generation of young people.
And it stays with us. I remember still the stories I read as a teenager, from the testimonies given to the Frankfurt trials, the story of Lilly Toffler from the trial of Adolf Eichmann.
The stories of unthinkable brutality, and the stories of immeasurable bravery.
The stories that each generation needs to hear, to understand and to remember.
To hear the pain and the strength of those who were killed.
The horror of what human beings were capable of visiting upon each other.
And to remember the darkness that spread across Europe.
The hatred that was allowed to take root.
FIGHTING PREJUDICE TODAY
As the Trust says:
“When we understand where prejudice leads, we can stop it in its tracks.”
And we must do so again in each generation, so we never let those shadows fall again.
12 days ago, in Paris, tragically the world was reminded what prejudice can do.
10 people killed for their cartoons. Targeted for what they said.
Three police officers, killed for doing their duty protecting others. Targeted for the jobs they did.
Four people killed as they shopped for groceries in a Jewish supermarket. Targeted for being Jewish. Targeted for who they were.
The attacks demonstrated the savagery with which terrorists seek to divide us.
The violence that can be wreaked when hatred takes hold
Targeting people for what they say, what they do, and who they are.
Bigotry, prejudice and hatred which we should never let stand in Europe again.
Faiths have united following the attacks, abhorring the anti-semitism and grieving for the victims.
As the brother of the French Muslim police officer killed by the terrorists, Ahmed Merabet, said, “My brother was killed by people who pretend to be Muslims. They are terrorists. That’s it.”
Communities have united - millions marching in Paris, support and solidarity from across the world, across national borders, across generations.
But it isn’t just in the wake of such an awful attack that we need to stand firm against violence, hatred or prejudice - from Islamist extremists and from far right extremists too.
Last week there was a suspected far right racist attack in North Wales against a British Asian man. Last year we saw the brutal killing of Lee Rigby by Islamist extremists and the murder of Mohammed Saleem and attempted bombings of mosques by far right extremist Pavlo Lapshyn.
And we need to be particularly vigilant about anti-semitism.
As the Chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust have said there are many differences between France and Britain in the number and nature of anti-semitic attacks and incidents.
But we still need to do much more in Britain to challenge this ancient prejudice.
The Community Security Trust, an organisation I value greatly and support, recorded 304 anti-semitic incidents across the United Kingdom in the first six months of 2014.
This is an increase of 36 per cent from the 223 anti-semitic incidents recorded in the first six months of 2013.
Last summer we saw anti-semitic attacks connected to foreign policy. That is inexcusable, ugly and poisonous to political debate, and we must all condemn it.
The CST have also received an unprecedented level of calls of concern since the attacks in Paris.
We have seen vile threats and harassment through social media towards prominent British Jews - both from Islamist extremists and from far right extremists.
No one should ever feel unsafe in their town, on their street, in their home. No one should ever feel afraid and under attack because of who they are.
PRACTICAL STEPS NEEDED
- Security
That means making sure we have a robust security response to all extremist threats. The Government working with the police and Jewish communities, from neighbourhood policing, through to counter terrorism, and effective intelligence.
It means continuing to support the vital work of Community Security Trust who provide such important intelligence, security expertise and reassurance across the Jewish community. And I met them last week to discuss further support for their work in the future
It means working to tackle Islamophobic attacks, and tackling racism and homophobic hate crimes too.
- Prevention & cohesion
But the most important thing always is to challenge prejudice before it can grow, to fight against all forms of extremism, and sustain the strong cohesive communities that in the end are our greatest security.
We need to ensure that the Prevent programme, as well as tackling violent extremism, is also challenging anti-semitism too.
And we should recognise the changing way abuse and harassment take place today. That means challenging social media companies to take more responsibility to prevent the harassment and hate crimes prosecuted through their sites. Companies like Twitter have still been far too slow to take down or block hate abuse. It’s still too easy even for those convicted of hate crimes to simply set up a new twitter account and start all over again.
The Convention on Human Rights, forged after the horrors of the Second World War and the Holocaust made clear we must protect freedom of expression, freedom of thought, conscience and religion. But we must also protect people’s freedom from hate crimes, discrimination, incitement to racial hatred or violence.
You do not defend your freedom by seeking to destroy another’s. That’s the difference between free speech and hate crime.
We do not want anti-semitism to be viewed as just another part of life that must be tolerated by Jewish communities in the UK, as we know it has in other countries.
WHY TONIGHT’S LECTURE IS SO IMPORTANT
And it is because we must be ever vigilant against prejudice and hatred that it is even more important we remember and reflect on our history.
For present and future generations to live in a more peaceful and safer world than then and now. To show people where anger and prejudice lead.
The Holocaust shows us that true horror is not unthinkable. It is a tragedy we still seek to fully comprehend.
It’s why Professor Christopher Browning’s work, renowned for its scope and significance, is important.
And it’s why I am a huge supporter of the Holocaust Educational Trust – who preserve the memory and ensure future generations from all walks of life and from across the UK not only know about the past but are determined to remember.
Remembering the Holocaust – and the crimes against humanity committed by the Nazis – is to recommit to our common humanity and common bonds.
It is to remember the evil so we can live in peace and safety.
It is to remember that this has been and that was not humanity.
Ellie Kulka’s letter said:
“I wish them all a happier life than our own.”
It is up to us to ensure the memory of those who died spurs us on to a world where we never live in fear, where we never live in a world of intolerance.
Ends