Sadiq Khan to join Yom HaShoah ceremony on Sunday

Sadiq Khan will join the community’s annual Yom HaShoah commemoration in Hyde Park this Sunday.

London’s mayor will attend alongside Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl, as well as Holocaust survivors and educators, with the free event set to be near-full capacity.

Sunday’s ceremony, which Sadiq chose to attend as his first formal engagement when elected in 2016, will also have representatives from synagogue movements and youth groups, a combined male voice choir, Shir Band and over 90 Jewish primary school singers.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “It has been an honour to join London’s Jewish community each year as Mayor to reflect on the six million Jewish lives lost in the Holocaust, the resilience of the survivors, and why it’s now more important than ever to promote the principles of respect and acceptance across all our communities. As we see the scourge of anti-Semitism and hate crime increasing once more, it is vital that we all work hard to ensure we learn the lessons from history and ensure this never happens again.”

Neil Martin, Yom HaShoah UK chair, said: “There are many aspects of the Shoah that are familiar to most, but there is so much more that is in danger of being forgotten. This year on Yom HaShoah we hope to bring these stories to the fore. Stories of vibrant Jewish life in communities that were totally destroyed, concentration and work camps across Europe that most don’t know existed, and tremendous acts of defiance and rescue to the UK that remain largely untold to this day.”

Laura Pradelska, a German-Jewish actress and grandchild of Holocaust survivors will also attend alongside reality TV Judge Robert Rinder, who recently featured in an episode of BBC genealogy series, Who Do You Think You Are?, exploring his family’s history during the Shoah.

This year’s ceremony marks 80 years since the Kitchener Camp, a former First World War base near Kent which gave refuge to 5,000 Jewish men who escaped Nazi persecution.

The camp was supported by the Central British Fund, now called World Jewish Relief, as well as other Jewish social welfare groups such as JLGB and ORT.

• Spaces are now limited so to book your free tickets visit: www.yomhashoah.org.uk/nationalevent