Holocaust Memorial Day

Baroness Walmsley Excerpts

Monday 26th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Walmsley (LD)]

My Lords, I congratulate the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Coventry on her excellent maiden speech and welcome her to this House. Since she tells us that she enjoys singing, I invite her to accompany me after the debate to the crypt chapel for a rehearsal of the Parliament Choir, which has often sung in her cathedral. I hope that she feels at home in your Lordships’ House.

When I get up in the morning and dress to come to your Lordships’ House, I remember my mother as I put on the little ring that I am wearing, which belonged to her. When I think of her, I also think of my father, who had such ambitions for me. When I walk into this Chamber, I often look up and wish that they had both lived to sit in the balcony and see me admitted to your Lordships’ House 25 years ago. I have always tried to make them proud, because I am one of the lucky ones who grew up with my own parents and grandparents around me.

Although my father served in the British Army to fight the Nazis, he survived the war. However, millions of the survivors of the events in the terrible time of the Holocaust, especially the children, either have little memory of their parents or nightmarish memories of family members who died. I often think of what it took for Jewish parents to say goodbye to their children, who left on the Kindertransport or by other means, knowing that they would probably never see them again. To us human beings, as to many other species, our children’s lives are even more precious than our own.

We often use things—places, photos and situations—to trigger memories of those who went before. That is why we want physical memorials, events and activities to help us remember what we will never want to forget and ensure that future generations will not either. Art can often do that for us. A wonderful example is the collection of ceramic replica shoes made by Jenny Stolzenberg, now displayed in the atrium of Portcullis House. It reminds us that the Shoah, and the other Holocaust mass murders of human beings, was not about mathematical numbers, such as 6 million; it was about 6 million individual people with 12 million feet that took them to their terrible fate.

We should ask ourselves the question: why did it happen? I have my own theory. I have always felt that there are many different ways of being human and that we should treat all with kindness and respect. Indeed, that is a fundamental part of my political philosophy and the way I try to live my life. The fact is that the Jews were persecuted by the Nazis because they were seen as “other”, as they had been for centuries. That expression, which was also mentioned by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Coventry, is now used to indicate people who are different from the majority—people with a different skin colour, gender identity, religion, nationality, language or culture, or different traditions, values or ways of life. That othering can lead to discrimination, inequality of opportunity and even hatred and violence. That othering of other human beings is the danger that we should all fear most in today’s world.

It is not just about slavery, which we all thought was stamped out years ago but know is still happening; othering is happening in many different ways today: racial discrimination of all kinds, antisemitism, the bombing of Ukrainian people by the Russians because they do not want to be Russian, the repression of women in Iran who do not conform to the way that men want them to live, the persecution of people suspected of being “other” by ICE on behalf of the state in the United States. How ironic that indigenous people—yes, indigenous people—are having to carry their tribal ID with them on the streets of Minnesota.

All these things, if allowed to take hold in a society, can lead to disaster and inhumanity. We need to be very afraid if we see signs of it happening in our own country, and we need to stop it before it can take hold. After all, we have all heard the warning of Pastor Martin Niemöller from his own sad experience. Here is part of it:

“First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist”.

It then goes on, ending with:

“Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me”.

We should speak out and speak up loud and clear for the kind of country that we are and should be.

That is why the theme chosen for this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day is so right. Bridging generations is vital if we are to alert our children to the danger to our country of every kind of othering, because, although we are reminded that the Holocaust was about the slaughter of 6 million Jews and the suffering of millions of others who survived, it was also a slaughter of other groups who were regarded as “other”, and therefore a danger to those in power. Power is so dangerous when it is linked to ignorance, greed and inhumanity. That is why I am glad that Holocaust Memorial Day is not just a big concert in a big concert hall and memorial services around physical memorial installations but small community events all over the country—in towns, villages, schools and homes, with their candles in their windows.

Tomorrow evening, when we look up at our public buildings lit up in purple, let us remember those who died in the Shoah and other Holocaust events, and let us celebrate and protect those who live on. Let us also vow that we will do everything we can to bring up our children in full knowledge of the Holocaust, and always to treat others with kindness and respect, no matter how different they are from ourselves.