Starmer vows to fight ‘poison’ of antisemitism during Auschwitz visit

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said during a visit to Auschwitz that he is determined to fight the “poison” of anti-Semitism.

Sir Keir, in Poland for talks with the country’s political leaders to discuss defense and security, said nothing could have prepared him for the horror of what he saw.

“It is absolutely distressing,” the Prime Minister said. He added, “The piles of hair, the shoes, the suitcases, the names and descriptions, everything that was kept so carefully, except human life.”

His visit comes just a week before the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp.

Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II.

The Prime Minister recalled “a sickness” and “an air of desolation” as he tried to comprehend “the enormity of this barbaric, planned, industrial murder”.

Sir Keir said the trip showed “more clearly than ever” that the Holocaust took “a collective effort by thousands of ordinary people who played their part in creating this entire industry of death”.

He was joined by his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer, who is Jewish and had visited Auschwitz once before.

“This was his second visit, but it was no less harrowing than the first time, when he entered that gate and saw the wickedness of what happened here,” the Prime Minister said.

While in Poland, Sir Keir is expected to discuss the new UK-Poland treaty with his counterpart Donald Tusk.

Under this treaty, both the countries will work together to protect Europe from Russian aggression and will work together to deal with people trafficking gangs.

Sir Kiir’s visit to Warsaw, Poland, comes a day after he pledged to put Ukraine in the “strongest possible position” on a visit to Kiev where he signed A “historic” 100-year agreement with the war-torn country,

The Prime Minister condemned the lack of consistency when people use the phrase “never again”, as people rightly condemn the persecution of the Jewish people during World War II, but in invoking anti-Semitism in other circumstances. fail.

“But will that never happen again, when we see the poison of anti-Semitism rising around the world after October 7?

“That will never happen again, with a wave of fear running through our own Jewish community as people are once again viciously targeted simply because they are Jewish,” Sir Keir said.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has said that anti-Semitism has increased significantly in the UK and globally following the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas and the subsequent war in Gaza.

Hamas fighters attacked Israel’s southern border on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza. Israel retaliated with a military offensive, which continued for more than 15 months.

last August, The Community Safety Trust – a Jewish safety charity – said reports of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK in the first half of 2024 have reached another record high. The charity said the record-high figures were a continuation of the impact of anti-Semitic reactions to the October 7 attack and the ongoing war in Gaza.

Sir Kiir’s visit comes as Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, which is due to begin on Sunday.

Qatari negotiators have said 33 hostages taken by Hamas to Israel will be returned in the first phase of a deal more than 15 months after the war in Gaza began.