Commons Speaker hosts Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony

The international date remembers the six million Jews murdered under Nazi persecution, and the victims of subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. 

‘One Day’ is the theme chosen by the Holocaust Memorial Trust - which focuses on a moment in time that changed forever the lives of those affected by genocide. 

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who was joined by faith leaders, MPs and the parliamentary community to light candles and read personal accounts from victims of past atrocities, urged colleagues "to remember, to learn and to hope there may be One Day in the future with no genocide."

"Holocaust Memorial Day prompts us to learn the lessons of the past and recognise that genocide does not just take place on its own – it's a steady process which can begin if discrimination, racism and hatred are not checked and prevented," he said. 

"As we have heard, so much can happen in one day. Lives can be changed; they can be ended, but they must never be forgotten."

Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, former minister Dame Margaret Hodge and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers and Laura Marks, chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, were among those taking part in the ceremony in Portcullis House led by Speaker’s Chaplain Revd Tricia Hillas. 

The House of Commons will be among iconic buildings and landmarks across the country to be lit up in purple tonight, to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.