A BATH-based organisation has launched a campaign calling on the UK government to introduce legislation making holocaust denial a criminal offence.
The Bath & North East Somerset (B&NES) Faith Foundation, led by Director Nathan Hartley, has written to the Prime Minister and Home Secretary urging for the introduction of such legislation.
Holocaust denial is currently a criminal offence in 17 European countries, as well as in Canada and Israel, with penalties ranging from up to two years in prison in Canada to five years in Italy and Germany. The lolocaust of the 1930s and 1940s remains one of the most documented genocides in history.
Nathan Hartley, director of the Bath & North East Somerset Faith Foundation, and has written to the Prime Minister and Home Secretary calling for legislation to be brought forward that would add holocaust denial to the statute books.
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He said: “Making denial of the holocaust a crime in the UK is long overdue, and with the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau just a few months away there is no more an important time than now to make Holocaust Denial illegal in our country.
“It would also show the strength of the government’s determination to root out antisemitism in Britain, something that the Prime Minister has spoken strongly about on several occasions.”
January 25, 2025, will mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by allied forces.
Nathan added: “Unfortunately, today, both in the UK and across the world, some 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau (the largest Nazi death camp) and the end of the Second World War, we still see and experience antisemitism in our communities.
“One of its most extreme and perverse forms is that of ‘holocaust denial’ – an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews is a fabrication or exaggeration.
It’s time now for the United Kingdom to follow suit and join with the other countries around the world who have legislated against denial of the holocaust. Such crimes should never be allowed to happen in our country.”
As well as 10 Downing Street and the Home Office, several Members of Parliament have also been written to asking for their support for the campaign.
The B&NES Faith Foundation will be keeping readers updated on the campaign through regular email updates. To subscribe, send a message [email protected]