Proposed UK Holocaust memorial likely to be rejected following complaints
A proposed Holocaust memorial next to the United Kingdom Parliament is likely to be rejected amid complaints from locals, and conservation and environmental groups.
Arpingstone/Wikimedia Commons.
The proposal includes a monument and education centre in Victoria Tower Gardens, which sits next to the Palace of Westminster. The Westminster City Council said this week that “the application was heading towards an unfavourable recommendation.”
The announcement comes months after the government pledged about US$28 million more to the project, which was first announced in 2015 by former Prime Minister David Cameron.
A group called Save Victoria Gardens petitioned why the memorial should not be built, citing reason such as the “atmosphere” on the park, as well as pollution and security, the Daily Mail reported.
Holocaust Educational Trust chief executive Karen Pollock said the memorial is “wholly appropriate” at a time of rising antisemitism across Europe, while Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl said Westminster Council’s rejection of the proposed memorial would be “a calamitous decision that would bring deep international shame on them.”
“At a time when antisemitic incidents are at an all-time high, rejecting this vital memorial to Holocaust victims would send entirely the wrong signal to society,” she said in a released statement. “We urge anyone thinking of objecting to this project of huge significance to our country, our community and the victims of the evil, Nazi genocide to think again.”
A Westminster City Council spokesperson confirmed that no decision has been made yet.
JNS
As worthy as a memorial may be having next to the UK parliament is not the right place. The holocaust did not happen in the UK but Britain accepted kinder transport children from Europe in the lead up to WW2.
London, like most WW2 allied countries, have war memorials for all the dead, service personal and civilian. Many civilians were killed in bombing of London, Coventry and elsewhere.
Perhaps a holocaust memorial near the main synagogue in London. Remember WW2 ended 74 years ago and most Britain’s were born after that conflict and have no memory of it.