London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 31, 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
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×