Keir Starmer said nothing could have prepared him for the ‘sheer horror’ of the Nazi death camp and the visit had strengthened his determination to stamp out the ‘poison’ of anti-Semitism
Keir Starmer has said horrors of Auschwitz will “stay with me for the rest of my life” as he visited the Nazi death camp for the first time.
The Prime Minister said nothing could have prepared him for the “sheer horror” of the place and his determination to stamp out the “poison” of anti-Semitism had been strengthened further by the harrowing visit.
He was accompanied by his wife Victoria, whose father came from a Polish-Jewish that emigrated to Britain before the Second World War. The couple laid a wreath, with a note that read: “In honour of those so brutally murdered in this place. We will never forget.”
More than 1.1 million people were murdered at Auschwitz, including around 960,000 Jews. Those not killed in gas chambers died through starvation, disease, execution, brutal beatings or medical experiments.
Speaking after his visit, Mr Starmer said: “Nothing could prepare me for the sheer horror of what I have seen in this place. It is utterly harrowing. The mounds of hair, the shoes, the suitcases, the names and details, everything that was so meticulously kept, except for human life.
“As I stood by the train tracks at Birkenau, looking across that cold, vast expanse, I felt a sickness, an air of desolation, as I tried to comprehend the enormity of this barbarous, planned, industrialised murder: a million people killed here for one reason, simply because they were Jewish.
“My visit today has also shown me more clearly than ever before, how this was not the evil deeds of a few bad individuals. It took a collective endeavour by thousands of ordinary people who each played their part in constructing this whole industry of death.
“To build the tracks, drive the trains, extract the hair and teeth, conceive the method of mass murder – each stomach-churning step rooted in the hatred of difference. The lessons of this darkest of crimes are the ultimate warning to humanity of where prejudice can lead.”
He was joined by his wife Victoria for the rare joint visit. Lady Starmer, who prefers to stay out of the public eye, comes from a Jewish family and Mr Starmer has spoken in the past about the importance of teaching his children about their heritage.
The PM said: “My wife was equally moved by what she saw today. It was her second visit, but no less harrowing than the first time she stepped through that gate and witnessed the depravity of what happened here.
“Time and again we condemn this hatred, and we boldly say “never again”. But where is never again, when we see the poison of antisemitism rising around the world in aftermath of October 7th?
“Where is never again, when the pulse of fear is beating in our own Jewish community, as people are despicably targeted once again for the very same reason, because they are Jewish.
“The truth that I have seen here today will stay with me for the rest of my life. So too, will my determination to defend that truth, to fight the poison of antisemitism and hatred in all its forms, and to do everything I can to make “never again” mean what it says, and what it must truly mean: never again.”
The PM travelled to Poland on Friday after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday. On the visit, his first as PM, he hinted the UK could deploy peacekeeping troops in Ukraine alongside allies.
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Asked if he would agree to send troops to Ukraine to safeguard any peace deal, he told Sky News: “We will be discussing this with a number of allies, including of course President Macron, including President Zelensky here today, and we will play our full part.
“We have always been one of the leading countries in relation to the defence of Ukraine, and so if you can read into that that we will be playing our full part, but I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. Because this has to be enduring, lasting.”