Antisemitism is not a new story, but it is an escalating one. Last week’s front pages were rightly dominated by the horrific arson attack on three Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green. In 2025 alone, the Community Security Trust (CST) recorded 3,700 antisemitic incidents – the second-highest in its history.
We know how quickly this hostility can intensify and provoke further acts of antisemitism. After the murderous attack at Heaton Park synagogue on Yom Kippur last year, the CST recorded an additional 80 antisemitic incidents in the 48 hours that followed. These spikes illustrate how visible acts of hate can trigger wider waves of abuse. But antisemitism is not confined to such high-profile incidents. For many in the Jewish community, fear has increasingly become part of daily life – felt while walking down the street, attending synagogue, gathering publicly and being online. I’m always mindful of this during my local CST volunteer shifts.
But this is not only a story about rising fear; it is a story about responsibility.
At the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT), we have been at the forefront of tackling antisemitism and prejudice through remembrance and education in communities across the UK. This year, we ran one of the largest (perhaps the largest ever) antisemitism awareness campaigns in the UK. It was a nationwide campaign reaching tens of millions of people – more than ten million through more than 3,000 billboards and a further 14 million listeners via radio stations.
This is why HMD matters. It sits at the intersection of commemoration and education, providing an opportunity for all communities to come together and remember the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered during the Holocaust. It is an opportunity to educate those around us, and to confront where the normalisation of antisemitism ultimately led. Crucially, it is an entry point – encouraging greater learning, reflection and action.
And it works. Our impact stats show 17 per cent of all UK secondary schools marked HMD this year, up from 9 per cent in 2025. Similarly, participating organisations increased from 3,500 in 2025 to more than 3,800 in 2026. Local events – reaching millions of people outside of the Jewish community – encourage continued engagement, helping to extend Holocaust remembrance and learning beyond January 27.
Increasingly, social media plays a growing role. While a vehicle for antisemitism, social media also allows us to reach those who might never attend a local event – challenging online denial and distortion with facts and survivor testimony. On HMD 2026, our social media channels had more than 24,000 social media engagements, doubling 2025’s figures, even with last year’s high-profile 80th anniversary. This reflects a growing appetite to learn and engage on these platforms, and also a clear opportunity to challenge antisemitism and Holocaust denial and distortion.
The results show something important: when done properly, remembrance and education do make a difference.
However, HMD alone is not enough to turn the tide – nor is the tireless commitment of survivors and advocates working in this space. Ultimately, 99.5 per cent of the UK population is not Jewish. The responsibility to confront antisemitism cannot fall on the Jewish community alone. It is the wider society that must step forward, recognise its role and actively work to challenge prejudice in all its forms.
During this year’s HMD, we spoke of the importance of “Bridging Generations”: listening to Holocaust survivors while we still can and preserving their testimonies. But memory alone is not sufficient – it must be accompanied by action. That is why the theme for HMD 2027, “No Place for Prejudice”, is so vital. It is a call to all of us to stand up and challenge hatred wherever we encounter it.
This begins with understanding how atrocities in the past were allowed to take hold and infiltrate everyday life. But it also requires recognising the responsibility each of us carries – regardless of age, gender, race or religion – to speak out.
We must take every opportunity to engage the wider British public, equipping people with the knowledge, confidence and language to challenge antisemitism. Only then can we begin to turn the tide – and choose empathy, understanding and respect.
Olivia Marks-Woldman OBE is chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust
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