Speaking in the Senedd this week, Clwyd West MS and Shadow Minister for North Wales Darren Millar applauded an event he attended in Llandudno at the weekend to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, and a book written by a constituent on the 300 Jewish refugees who stayed at Gwrych Castle.

Responding to the Statement by the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip on Holocaust Memorial Day, which takes place each year on 27 January to remember the millions of people murdered in the Holocaust, under Nazi persecution of other groups and in the genocides which followed, in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, Darren commended all the events that were held across North Wales to mark the event, making special reference to the annual event held in Llandudno, which he attended.

He said:

“I think that it is important that Holocaust Memorial Day is marked in the Senedd with both an event and a Ministerial Statement every year.

“It is important that we commemorate these things locally as well, and I'm pleased that a number of events have been held around Wales remembering the Holocaust, including one that I attended over the weekend in Llandudno, where the Christian Friends of Israel in North Wales get together with the local Jewish community in order to host an annual event at which people of all generations and Holocaust survivors take part.

“I was particularly struck this year by the impact of the ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ programme on the young people who shared about their visit to Auschwitz at that particular event. I would be grateful if you could confirm the ongoing commitment of the Welsh Government to that programme, in order to ensure that many more young people can have the opportunity to become ambassadors for those who have experienced the horrors of the Holocaust, particularly at Auschwitz.”

Darren also referred to a book which has been written by a constituent about the 300 Jewish refugees who came across as part of the Kindertransport programme and stayed at Gwrych Castle.

He added:

“…One of my constituents, Andrew Hesketh, who has written a book, ‘Escape to Gwrych Castle’. It's about the 300 Jewish refugees who came across as part of the Kindertransport programme, and lived at the castle - the largest single centre of Kindertransport arrivals and refugees in the whole of the United Kingdom. I didn't know that that was the case. I knew that there had been a number of Jews that had taken refuge at the castle during the war, but had no idea that it was the largest single centre of its kind.

“I would commend that book to anyone with an interest in the events of the war, the Holocaust, and indeed in the generous response of the Welsh public to those individuals in need.”

Darren also thanked universities in Wales that have done work in trying to promote awareness of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism and have adopted it - both Bangor and Cardiff.

He added:

“There is still more work to be done among our higher education institutions, and I would be grateful if you could continue to work with your colleague the Cabinet Minister for education to address those shortcomings in some parts of our education institutions across Wales.”

In her response, the Minister confirmed the ongoing commitment of the Welsh Government to the ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ programme and ongoing work with Welsh Universities to promote the adoption of the IRHA definition of antisemitism.