Wayne David, MP for Caerphilly, has met with and listened to the powerful testimony of Joan Salter MBE, a child survivor of the Holocaust, at the launch event for Holocaust Memorial Day 2019.

Holocaust Memorial Day remembers the six million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust, as well as the millions of people killed under Nazi persecution and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. It is held on 27 January each year, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, which Mr David has visited previously and was the largest Nazi death camp.

Mr David attended the Holocaust Memorial Day launch event, which was held in the Houses of Parliament and was organised by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

The Trust is the charity which promotes and supports Holocaust Memorial Day across the UK. It provides resources for people and organisations to mark Holocaust Memorial Day and works to ensure that the day itself is an opportunity for everyone to learn lessons from the past and create a safer, better future. This year the Trust are organising a number of workshops to help people who are interested in planning an event to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day. There is a workshop taking place in Cardiff on Tuesday 20 November and anyone from the Caerphilly constituency who wants more information can email enquiries@hmd.org.uk or telephone 020 7785 7029.

Speaking after the event in Parliament, Wayne David said, “The experiences of Joan Salter who was forced to flee Europe and head to America without her parents at the age of just three, act as an important reminder of the need to continue to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. It is a day to remember the millions of people who were affected by the Holocaust and subsequent genocides.

“I would encourage all of my constituents to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January 2019. I would also urge anyone interested in organising an event to mark the day to contact the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, who will provide them with the resources they need.”