Starmer vows to fight ‘poison’ of antisemitism during Auschwitz visit | Global News Avenue

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was determined to fight the “poison” of anti-Semitism during a visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp site.

Sir Keir, who was in Poland for talks with the country’s political leaders to discuss defense and security issues, said he was unprepared for the horror he saw.

“This is really distressing,” the prime minister said. “Piles of hair, shoes, suitcases, names and details, everything is carefully preserved except human life,” he added.

His visit comes ahead of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp.

During World War II, six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis and their associates.

The Prime Minister recalled feeling “a sense of nausea” and “an atmosphere of desolation” as he tried to comprehend “the gravity of this brutal, planned, industrialized murder”.

Sir Keir said the visit showed “more clearly than ever” that the Holocaust “was the result of the collective effort of thousands of ordinary people who each played their part in building the entire industry of death.” effect”.

He was joined by his wife, Ms Victoria Starmer, who was Jewish and had previously visited Auschwitz.

The Prime Minister said she was equally deeply moved, adding: “This is her second visit, but nothing compared to the first time she stepped through that door and witnessed first-hand the corruption that goes on here. Less than her.”

While in Poland, Sir Keir is expected to discuss a new Anglo-Polish treaty with Sir Donald Tusk.

The treaty would see the two countries work together to protect Europe from Russian aggression and jointly combat people-smuggling gangs.

Sir Keir signed the deal a day before he visited Warsaw, Poland, where he pledged to put Ukraine in the “strongest possible position” during a trip to Kiev ‘Landmark’ 100-year deal with war-torn country.

The Prime Minister condemned a lack of consistency in the use of the word “never again” as people rightly condemned the persecution of Jews during the Second World War but failed to call out anti-Semitism in other cases.

“But where is the ‘forever’ when we see the poison of anti-Semitism rising around the world in the wake of October 7?

Sir Keir added: “As the pulse of fear pulses through our own Jewish communities, people are once again being despicably targeted for the same reasons, because they are Jewish.”

The Holocaust Remembrance Day Trust said there had been a significant increase in anti-Semitism in the UK and globally following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent war in Gaza.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants attacked Israel’s southern border, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza. Israel retaliated with a military offensive that has lasted for more than 15 months.

Last August, Reports of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK hit a new high in the first half of 2024, Jewish security charity Community Security Trust said. The charity said the record figures were a continuation of the anti-Semitic response to the October 7 attacks and the ongoing war in Gaza.

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

Qatari negotiators said the deal, reached more than 15 months after the Gaza war broke out, would see the repatriation of 33 hostages taken by Hamas from Israel in the first phase.