Holocaust Memorial Day in Britain
David Cesarani reflects on the past, present and future of education about genocide and bigotry.
On November 11th, 2001, I took my family to the Field of Remembrance in the grounds of Westminster Abbey, where row upon row of diminutive crosses are planted in memory of the fallen. I have been making this trip for a number of years, sometimes with my father, who was stationed in Egypt during the Second World War. This year my son, aged seven, came with me. As he hunted for the intermittent stars of David amongst the ranks of crosses and related the experience of his Jewish family to this haunting panorama of struggle and sacrifice, I wondered whether Holocaust Memorial Day would ever exert such power over non-Jews in Britain.
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