Britain to Build New Holocaust Memorial Center Outside Parliament

Britain will build a new national Holocaust memorial center in Westminster, outside the Parliament building, the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Thursday.

Planning permission has been granted to build the country’s first national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Center in Victoria Tower Gardens, next to Parliament, with construction starting later this year with an anticipated completion date of 2025, according to the statement.

“The world-class facility will give visitors powerful and engaging experiences to learn about the Holocaust and subsequent genocides through a variety of media including historic photographs, film footage and audio recordings so that the stories of survivors can be heard by younger generations, present and future.”

Ed Balls and Lord Pickles, co-chairs of the U.K. Holocaust Memorial Foundation, said that the plan represents “an important milestone, bringing closer the day when we have a national memorial which properly commemorates the 6 million Jewish men, women and children and all others murdered by the Nazis.”

The announcement coincided with London Metropolitan Police reporting that they recorded 87 antisemitic incidents during May’s escalation between Israel and the Gaza-based Palestinian terrorist groups, 65 more than at any time in the past three years.