“Nazism Does Not Pay,” Leaders Warn at UK Yom HaShoah Ceremony

Thousands of people gathered Monday evening outside the UK Parliament in London for the national Yom HaShoah commemoration, where speakers warned that antisemitism must be confronted as a present-day threat.

The ceremony, held at Victoria Tower Gardens and attended by around 2,000 people, framed Holocaust remembrance as an active responsibility amid rising hostility toward Jews in Britain, where 3,700 antisemitic incidents were recorded in 2025, the second-highest annual total on record.

Board of Deputies president Phil Rosenberg directly linked Holocaust memory to recent violence, warning that antisemitism is not confined to history. “Remembering the Shoah is not passive. It is a call to vigilance, moral clarity and action,” he said.

Rosenberg pointed to the deadly attack on a synagogue in Manchester last year, in which two worshippers were killed, as well as the March arson attack in north London in which four Hatzola ambulances were set on fire near a Jewish facility. He also warned of the normalization of extremist rhetoric. “There are also those in our own time, well-known public figures, including Kanye West, who openly describe themselves as Nazis and sought to glorify Nazi ideology. This is not only offensive. It is a direct affront to the memory of the millions who perished,” he said.

“Nazism does not pay. It will not pay, and it will never be allowed to pay,” Rosenberg added.

Communities Secretary Steve Reed told the crowd that safeguarding Holocaust memory requires ongoing commitment and must be matched by action. “Memory doesn’t survive by accident. It needs people who are willing to hold it, to share it and to safeguard it, and that responsibility belongs to all of us,” he said.

Reed reaffirmed the government’s commitment to Jewish security, saying: “Your safety, your security and your freedom to live openly and freely as Jews in the United Kingdom matter and we are committed to stamping out antisemitism wherever and however it manifests.” He also reiterated support for the planned Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre next to Parliament.

A central moment of the ceremony came as Holocaust survivor Dr. Lydia Tischler, 97, addressed more than 150 Jewish schoolchildren in attendance. “I was 10 years old, I was about your age when Hitler, without an invitation, invaded my country and started making the lives of Jews very miserable, in stages, slowly ending up in one concentration camp after another,” she said.

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said remembrance must extend beyond formal commemorations. “It won’t just be on annual occasions… but on each and every day… we pledge that we will ensure the world will never forget,” he said. He added that Holocaust survivors represent “true Jewish heroism.”

Children from seven Jewish primary schools stood together to sing a remembrance song and pledged to carry the memory forward. “We stand here in unity… to promise that the six million victims of the Shoah will never be forgotten,” they said.

Union of Jewish Students president Louis Danker said responsibility now lies with the next generation. “Our generation must once again stand against hatred, against silence, and against indifference… with our identity, our voice, and our Jewish pride,” he said.

The ceremony included the lighting of six memorial candles by Holocaust survivors and their descendants, each representing different groups targeted during the Holocaust, including the 1.5 million children murdered.

Neil Martin, chair of Yom HaShoah UK, said the event reflected a clear generational transition. “This year’s commemoration was about the next generation, and showing our survivors that the responsibility of remembrance is being carried forward with clarity, passion and determination,” he said, describing survivor testimony delivered to children as “a true passing of the torch.”

The event concluded with prayers and music, as speakers returned to a consistent message that remembrance must be matched by action in confronting antisemitism in Britain today.