Early day motion 698

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY 27th JANUARY 2007

• Session: 2006-07
• Date tabled: 22.01.2007
• Primary sponsor: Laws, David
• Sponsors:
  • Burrowes, David
  • Carswell, Douglas
  • Luff, Peter
  • Pelling, Andrew
  • Taylor, David

That this House notes that Holocaust Memorial Day is on 27th January, which is the day the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated; recognises the significance of this day and the importance to remember and learn from the horrors of the past, especially when there are those who seek to denigrate and deny its significance; notes with extreme concern the Iranian state-sponsored conference questioning the truth of the Holocaust; observes that the lessons of the Holocaust have not been learnt and that racism, extremism and anti-semitism still persist; acknowledges the importance of this year's theme The Dignity of Difference and hopes that it will provide an opportunity for people not only to think about the lives of people marginalised, excluded and persecuted in the Holocaust, but also in subsequent genocides; thanks the City of Newcastle for hosting the national event and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust for organising this national day; applauds those organisations such as the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) for their work in educating on the horrors of the past, reaching thousands of students across the country; in particular recognises the huge impact of the HET visits to Auschwitz in shaping young minds today; notes that a Book of Commitment will be placed in the corridor between the Members' Cloakroom and Members' Staircase between the hours of 14.30 and 16.30, from Monday 22nd to Wednesday 24th January 2007; and encourages all right hon. and hon. Members to sign the Book and be involved in a day that helps to ensure that the memory of the Holocaust is kept alive and serves as warning today and in the future.