The Holocaust also targeted LGBT people
My Lords, I too am puzzled why it is not possible to include this wording in the Bill. Given that the Bill makes provision for the construction of a Holocaust memorial and learning centre, why on earth can we not define what the learning centre is for? However, I accept the Minister’s assurances about the purposes.
I have one specific question that I would like to ask the Minister. When we debated this matter in June, I raised with the noble Lord, Lord Verdirame, the issue of the definition of the word “Holocaust”, pointing out that the Holocaust included groups other than Jewish people. Of course, it was primarily an atrocity committed against Jewish people, and that will be the primary purpose of a memorial centre, but other groups were affected too, including LGBT people and disabled people, who were killed in concentration camps. The noble Lord, Lord Verdirame, assured me that his understanding was that the Holocaust did include such groups. Some of the contributions from noble Lords today make me wonder whether that is a shared assumption.
Since this debate is about clarity and definition, I would be grateful for the Minister’s assurance, on the back of the assurances he has given about the purpose of the learning centre, that his and the Government’s understanding is that the Holocaust included the murder of other groups at the same time, as part of the activities of the Nazi regime, and that that should not be excluded or considered to be mission creep, to use the words that some noble Lords have used in concern about the absence of a definition from the Bill. I would be grateful if the Minister could give me that same reassurance that the noble Lord, Lord Verdirame, gave me in June.
Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
The most important thing—and we have heard this today—is that we leave tonight united in one purpose: that we do not forget the 6 million who were murdered or the consequences of the Nazi crimes. To reassure the noble Lord, Lord Herbert, he knows where I stand on the crimes of the Nazis. Of course, the very first people they imprisoned and murdered were trade unionists who were standing up for workers’ rights, and we need to understand that. I was also struck by what the noble Baroness, Lady Deech, said to me this morning: that antisemitism did not start with the Nazi crimes. It has been with us for 2,000 years. We need to ensure that we understand the impact, not only of the past but on the living, and I think she is right.
Lord Collins subsequently (5 March 2026) sent the following note to Nick:
During the final round of Holocaust Memorial Bill Ping Pong … you … requested further information and assurances on the purpose of the learning centre specifically in respect to the murder of other groups by the Nazi regime. I did acknowledge in the debate that whilst the term Holocaust refers specifically to the genocide of European Jewry, other groups deemed racially and socially inferior experienced horrific and violent persecution by the Nazis including those that you … mentioned such as … Gay men. However I acknowledge that my response was fairly limited, so I thought it best to ask the Bill Team to do a note explaining a little more about the next stage process.
The attached note [below] acknowledges that in Britain’s Promise to Remember the Prime Minister’s Holocaust Commission explicitly recommended that the Memorial should:
reflect the centrality of the murder of European Jews to Nazi objectives, and
appropriately represent the fate of other victims of Nazi persecution.
The Mission Statement of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation reflects this recommendation and recognises that the Memorial will be:“…dedicated to the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered in the Holocaust and all other victims of the Nazis and their collaborators.”
The exhibition and learning programme for the UKHMLC are being developed with these objectives in mind. The overall aim is to create an engaging, reflective and powerful exhibition founded on academic research and judicious use of sources; an academic advisory board supports this work, under the strategic guidance of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation.
Many decisions are yet to be taken on the detailed content of the exhibition and learning programme, but I have asked the Team to keep you informed of developments
Lord Collins of Highbury
Deputy Leader House of Lords
