OPINION: The Queen’s support added incalculable weight to Holocaust education
From hosting survivors to visiting Bergen Belsen, Her Majesty's work with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust was crucial as denial grew, argues Olivia Marks-Woldman
“Who would have thought my journey would take me from the gas chambers of Auschwitz to tea with the Queen on the lawn at Buckingham Palace?!”
It is indeed extraordinary that Lily Ebert BEM survived a deportation by cattle truck to Auschwitz, and four horrific months in the concentration camp. But Lily is not the only Holocaust survivor to be issued with an invitation to a Royal Garden Party, nor the only one to have been awarded an Honour.
Her Majesty the Queen consistently showed her deep commitment to Holocaust education. She sought out, and took up opportunities to demonstrate this commitment, knowing that to do so would add incalculable symbolic weight to the work of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and to many others in this field. As we face the challenges of Holocaust distortion and denial, the Queen knew her active support strengthened our message, as well as providing immense honour to Holocaust and genocide survivors.
She attended the very first Holocaust Memorial Day UK Ceremony in 2001 and took up the role of Patron of Holocaust Memorial Day Trust at our establishment in 2005, so that from the very beginning, the Day would be, and be seen to be, a day of collective, national commemoration for everyone – regardless of background. She knew that a day of commemoration would necessarily go beyond the simple acts of remembrance, and would include opportunities for learning, being challenged, and being inspired to help build better communities.
On the final day of a state visit to Germany in 2015, she visited a concentration camp, Bergen-Belsen both to see for herself the site of some of the worst of humanity’s atrocities but also to add her weight to the public recognition of them at a time when Holocaust denial was growing.
She has worked with many charities to meet Holocaust survivors and refugees, taking time to chat to them and hear some of their experiences.
As survivor Joan Salter MBE said: “I came to the UK as a child survivor of the Holocaust in 1947 and I remember the excitement surrounding The Queen’s coronation. For someone who came from so much upheaval and trauma, the Queen has been an important symbol of wisdom and stability for me. My thoughts are with King Charles III and his family at this difficult time.”
At a tea party to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee earlier this year, survivors of the Holocaust and genocide shared their personal experiences against the backdrop of Her Majesty’s remarkable reign. It was a wonderful opportunity to journey through the seven decades of her reign, through the eyes of survivors, many of whom told me that the Queen was a physical embodiment of the welcome they found in the UK, and of the opportunities they found to rebuild their broken lives here.
She has taught us all that education is not only what we find in the classroom; it is learning from watching her steadfast commitment to doing the right thing, listening to those who have suffered the ultimate degradations and persecution, simply for who they are – and inviting them round for tea.
- Olivia Marks-Woldman is Chief Executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust
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