HMDT chair Sajid Javid warns prejudice must be challenged as survivor testimony ‘runs out’
Summer gathering highlights urgency of Holocaust education as charity unveils 2027 theme, ‘No Place for Prejudice’
Holocaust Memorial Day Trust chair Sir Sajid Javid has warned that Britain must confront prejudice before it takes root, as Holocaust survivors and community leaders gathered in London to support the charity’s educational work.
The former Home Secretary addressed guests at HMDT’s annual Summer Tea Party on Sunday, where Holocaust survivor John Hajdu MBE shared his experiences of persecution and survival during the Holocaust.
The event also featured a discussion between Javid and historian and author Natalie Livingstone, whose recent book The Nuremberg Women: At the Trials That Brought the Nazis to Justice explores the stories of women connected to the post-war prosecutions of senior Nazis.
A newly released HMDT film featuring Hajdu was screened during the afternoon. In the video, he reflects on the diminishing number of survivors still able to speak firsthand about their experiences.
“The time for me to tell you about my experiences as a Holocaust survivor is running out,” Hajdu says in the film.
Born in Budapest in 1937, Hajdu survived the Holocaust after being hidden by a non-Jewish neighbour when his mother was rounded up by the Nazis in 1944. His father had previously been sent to a forced labour camp for Jewish men.
The event came shortly after HMDT announced the theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2027: No Place for Prejudice. The theme will encourage people to examine how antisemitism and discrimination helped create the conditions that led to the Holocaust, while considering how prejudice continues to affect society today.
Addressing guests, Javid said: “Hearing directly from survivors like John Hajdu is both a privilege and a reminder of why the work of Holocaust education matters so much.
“Their experiences remind us that hatred and discrimination can have devastating consequences when left unchallenged.
“That is why our theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2027, No Place for Prejudice, is so important. It encourages us not only to understand the past, but also to reflect on the attitudes and behaviours that continue to divide communities today.
“If we want a society that is more tolerant, more cohesive and more resilient, we all have a role to play.”
HMDT, the government-backed charity responsible for promoting Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK, said the new theme aims to encourage reflection on both historic and contemporary forms of prejudice.
The charity’s annual commemoration takes place on 27 January each year, marking the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust alongside victims of Nazi persecution and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
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