Hampshire mayor randomly inflates Holocaust death toll to 12 million and erases Jews from memorial
Labour councillor Munazza Faiz's false statement on Holocaust Memorial Day branded “an insult to victims and survivors”
The mayor of a Hampshire town been criticised after promoting a Holocaust remembrance event by describing “the 12 million people who lost their lives during the Holocaust” without mentioning Jews – with the Holocaust Educational Trust describing it as “an insult to victims and survivors”.
Havant Borough council’s press release, which described a “short, non-denominational service” to take place on Tuesday, contained no mention of Jews at all, with the mayor, Labour councillor Munazza Faiz, adding that “We must continue to stand up against prejudice, hatred and discrimination of any kind”.
Honorary Alderman Leah Turner was quoted as saying: “By marking Holocaust Memorial Day, we reaffirm our commitment to remembering the past and working towards ensuring such atrocities are never repeated.”
No specific reasoning was given for the random 12 million figure mentioned by Faiz.
Responding to the omission, Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, told Jewish News: “The Holocaust was the murder of six million Jewish men, women and children. Ignoring that the victims were Jews, widening the figure to include all victims of the Second World War, or attempting to draw in contemporary conflicts is an abuse of the memory of the Holocaust and an insult to victims and survivors.
“Any attempt to dilute the Holocaust, strip it of its Jewish specificity, or compare it to contemporary events is unacceptable on any day. On Holocaust Memorial Day, it is especially hurtful, disrespectful and wrong.”
Havant Borough Council’s guest speaker at the service was second-generation Holocaust survivor Bryan Huberman from the 45 Aid Society, a charity formed after the Shoah by The Windermere Children.
His late father, Alfred Huberman, was one of 300 Jewish children liberated from Hitler’s concentration camps and flown to England at the end of the Second World War.
Jewish News has approached Havant Borough Council and the 45 Aid Society for comment.
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