London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 23, 2025

London's planned Holocaust Memorial is mired in controversy

London's planned Holocaust Memorial is mired in controversy

Situated in the heart of the British capital, the Holocaust Memorial will open its doors in 2025. But critics worry that the monument may send the wrong signal.

The British government recently approved the construction of the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre at the Victoria Tower Gardens in London's Westminster district.

The aim is to provide a "national focal point to honour the 6 million Jewish men, women and children who were murdered in the Holocaust, and other victims of Nazi persecution, including the Roma, gay and disabled people," the government said in a statement.

The learning centre will also focus on subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. The British government has announced that entry will be free, and remain so, "in perpetuity." Although the monument is the UK's "first national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Center," according to an official statement, there is a Holocaust Memorial Garden dedicated to victims of the Shoah in London's Hyde Park.

The planning of the monument involved some controversy. Initiated by conservative Prime Minister David Cameron in 2014, its proposed location in London's central Westminster area was initially rejected by local authorities in 2018, due to the proximity to other monuments as well as limited space in the park.

Britain: the savior of the Jews?


The conservative national government under current Prime Minister Boris Johnson overruled the decision of the local authorities in 2019, but the location was also criticized by academics. In a letter to the government in October 2020, 42 intellectuals from British Universities expressed concern that the structure's proximity to the British Parliament and government buildings in Westminster might exaggerate the role that Britain played in saving and protecting victims of the Shoah.

They worried that the United Kingdom might suggest itself as the heroic savior nation of Europe, which would not do justice to decades of historical research on the Holocaust.

Jean-Marc Dreyfus, professor at the University of Manchester, does not share that same concern: "The memorial is far too vague to present the British Nation as a savior." However, this vagueness is precisely what troubles the historian and specialist of Holocaust studies: "The memorial includes no symbols of the Shoah, it looks extremely neutral. It could be commemorating something entirely different."

Dreyfus thinks that the memorial needs to be read in the context of the Brexit referendum: "The memorial functions for the conservative governments that initiated and proposed to realize it as a sort of justification for Brexit: Look, it says, what happened in Europe back then — a Europe that Britain is not a part of."

Global commemoration of the Shoah


Andrea Löw, a professor at the Centre for Holocaust Studies in Munich, tells DW that the Shoah is commemorated all over the world: There are museums, educational centres and monuments in Cape Town and Sydney, in South America and Budapest, in Israel and Washington. "There is such a thing as a global commemoration of the Holocaust." At the moment, historians are concerned with passing from a ritualized commemoration to an individualized commemoration, she explains: "I tell the stories of individuals, real people who lived during and had to react to the Holocaust. I tell the stories of the lives they had before, the dreams they had for the future. Whenever I do that, nobody finds it boring. Everyone is interested."

That is why historians have increasingly been working on and with diaries and reports from the period, chronicling the lives of individuals living during the Nazi era. One recent example is American-Jewish historian Judy Batalion, who published a book on Jewish women resistance fighters in the German ghettos in occupied Poland. Film rights have been optioned by Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg.

"As historians, we consider it our task to carry on the message that eyewitnesses have given to us, now that the survivors are passing away," Andrea Löw explains. "That is why the survivors talked to us, after all, that is why so many people in the German ghettos under Nazi occupation kept a diary or wrote reports. It was their wish that the Shoa would not be forgotten."

'The reign of hatred'


Jean-Marc Dreyfus from the University of Manchester also emphasizes the great importance of the underground Learning Centre that will be built at the Victoria Tower Gardens: "That is good news. The commemoration of the Shoah must continue."

He hopes that it will lead to a different public discussion of the Shoah in Britain, one that is based on historical research and facts.

"The British commemoration of the Holocaust began much later than in other Western countries such as Germany, France or the United States," he said. "Not until the 1990s and 2000s. And it has always remained vague."

The Holocaust Memorial Garden in Hyde Park, London


This could now change. Construction on the memorial and education centre will begin in London towards the end of 2021 and is expected to cost £100 million (€118 million) and they are expected to open to the public in 2025. Both are designed by architect David Adjaye with Ron Arad Associates and Gustafson Porter+Bowman.

British Holocaust survivor Sir Ben Helfgott expressed pride that the new memorial will be built in the heart of the British capital in the government's press release: "I know that long after I and the other survivors are gone, the UK will continue to remember the Holocaust and learn what happened when hatred reigned."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
×