Starmer vows to fight ‘poison’ of anti-Semitism during visit to Auschwitz

Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his determination to fight the “poison” of anti-Semitism during a site visit to Auschwitz.

Sir Keir, who was in Poland to meet the country’s political leaders to discuss defense and security, said nothing could have prepared him for the horrors he witnessed.

The Prime Minister said it was “absolutely tragic”. “Everything was kept with the utmost care, except for the pile of hair, the shoes, the suitcase, the name and details, the human life,” he added.

At a press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Sir Keir expressed his determination to deepen security cooperation between the two countries.

Sir Keir’s visit comes just one week before the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazis’ largest concentration camp.

During World War II, 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis and their accomplices.

The Prime Minister recalled feeling “a sickening, desolate atmosphere” as he tried to understand “the enormity of this barbaric, planned, industrialized murder.”

Sir Keir said the visit made it “more clear than ever” that the Holocaust was “a collective effort by thousands of ordinary people who each played their part in building this whole industry of death”. ” he said.

He was accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Victoria Starmer, who is Jewish and had previously visited Auschwitz.

The Prime Minister said she was equally moved, adding: “It was my second visit and it was just as harrowing as the first time I walked through those gates and saw the devastation that was happening here.”

During their time in Poland, Sir Keir and Mr Tusk discussed European defence, energy security, climate and illegal immigration, the prime minister told a news conference.

Speaking about cooperation between the UK and the EU, Tusk said he wanted to “return home” and said: “I’m more of an optimist and I want to keep these dreams in my heart. Dreams come true in politics.” Sometimes,” he added.

Sir Keir went on to stress that Poland and the UK share an “unwavering commitment” to both NATO and Ukraine.

The Prime Minister welcomed the yet-to-be-ratified UK-Poland agreement, saying it covered all aspects of the threats facing both countries, including “deepening the relationship between our two countries’ defense industries”.

His visit to Poland comes a day after he vowed to put Ukraine in the “strongest possible position” during a trip to Kiev, where he signed a “groundbreaking” 100-year agreement with the war-stricken country.

The Prime Minister criticized the consistency in how people use the words “never again,” such as when people rightly condemn the persecution of Jews during World War II but do not call out anti-Semitism in other situations. Blame the lack.

“But as we see the venom of anti-Semitism rising around the world in the aftermath of October 7, where is the point that it will never happen again?

“Never again will there be a time when the drumbeat of fear is beating in our Jewish communities that people will once again be targeted despicably because they are Jewish,” Sir Keir said. added.

The Holocaust Remembrance Day Trust said there had been a significant increase in anti-Semitism in the UK and globally following the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and the ensuing war in Gaza.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas fighters stormed Israel’s southern border, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza. Israel has retaliated with military attacks, which have continued for more than 15 months.

In August last year, Jewish security charity Community Security Trust announced that reports of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK in the first half of 2024 had reached yet another record high. The charity said the record numbers were a continuing impact of the October 7 attacks and the anti-Semitic reaction to the ongoing war in Gaza.

Sir Keir’s visit comes as Israel and Hamas have agreed a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, scheduled to begin on Sunday.

The first phase of the agreement, which comes more than 15 months after the start of the war in Gaza, will see the return of 33 hostages taken from Israel by Hamas, Qatari negotiators said.