No exemptions on Holocaust education under new UK curriculum plan, PM Starmer says

All British students will learn about the Holocaust in school, thanks to a new curriculum plan introduced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the annual Holocaust Education Trust dinner on Monday night, according to media reports and statements made by the leader on social media. 

Starmer announced the plan to 500 dinner guests including Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, according to Jewish News. 

“For the first time, studying the Holocaust will become a critical, vital part of every single student’s identity. And not just studying it, learning from it too and above all, acting on its lessons,” Starmer told attendees, while adding that funding of at least £2.2 million would be put in place to allow students to visit Auschwitz.

We must call out Antisemitism for what it is: hatred.Tonight, I set a new national ambition. For the first time, studying the Holocaust will become a critical part of every student’s identity.We will make sure that the Holocaust is never forgotten, and never again repeated. pic.twitter.com/1vSF36fZ0q

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) September 16, 2024

“Over the last 20 years tens of thousands of students have had that life-changing opportunity to visit Auschwitz in person and to share their experience with their peers,” he said.

“The shoes, the hair, the suitcases, the train tracks, the gas chamber. It’s utterly, utterly horrific. But it’s a truth we have to remember.

“And I know there is nothing quite as powerful as seeing it for yourself. So I will join the Holocaust Educational Trust for one of these visits myself. This government will continue funding Lessons from Auschwitz and I can confirm that tonight we are providing at least £2.2m next year.”

Hamas's October 7 attacks and increasing antisemitism

Addressing recent events, Starmer acknowledged that “over a thousand people were massacred by Hamas, for the very same reason: because they were Jewish.”

On October 7, Hamas invaded southern Israel and murdered over 1200 people, taking an additional 250 hostage. Terrorists killed Israeli civilians, including Arab-Israelis, and foreign nationals. 

Starmer said that he had sat with the family of a murdered hostage the previous week.

“We say ‘never again’ and yet in the last year we’ve seen record levels of antisemitism right here in Britain,” Starmer continued. 

Britain has overtaken global trends of increased antisemitism, with London Metropolitan Police stating that there had been an increase in antisemitic incidents by 1350% since Oct.7. The global number of incidents increased by 235%, according to a January report by the World Zionist Organization. 

Starmer, who is married to a Jewish woman, also vowed to visit Auschwitz in a trip organized by the Holocaust charity.

“Just as I fought to bring my party back from the abyss of antisemitism, I promise you I will do the same in leading the country,” he said, in reference to the scandals that followed the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, told Jewish News, “Tonight we came together with over 500 supporters and reflected on the unprecedented challenges we face today – antisemitism at the highest level in a generation, the Holocaust moving from living memory and further into history and the disgusting denial and distortion of the past being seen day after day.

“These challenges have become even more urgent in the wake of the horrific October 7th terrorist attack in Israel – the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

“As we face these issues head on, we are enormously grateful to the prime minister, Keir Starmer, for joining us this evening and clearly highlighting the central place that the Holocaust must continue to have in our national consciousness; and expressing the need for everyone to stand united in the fight against antisemitism today.”