Communities Secretary James Brokenshire has revealed how plans for the Holocaust Memorial in Westminster strike a “personal chord” after detailing how his father-in-law and his children’s great grandfather both escaped Nazi Germany.

Writing for the JC ahead of his speech next Tuesday at the launch of a public exhibition of the latest Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre designs, the minister told of his connection to the £50 million project at Victoria Tower Gardens, in the shadow of Westminster.

He revealed: “I am particularly honoured to be involved in building a fitting memorial to the Holocaust in Britain.”

Mr Brokenshire — who has three children with his Jewish wife, Catherine Anne Mamelok — also accepted it was “vital” that concerns about the design and location of the memorial should be heard in advance of the submission of a planning application later this year. Prominent Ghanian-British architect Sir David Adjaye won the international competition to design the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre. 

His design includes a path which leads across a gradually rising hill, affording views out to the River Thames and Westminster.

But earlier this week, it emerged that some had criticised the design, which features 23 bronze blade walls that form 22 staircases and is meant to symbolise one for each country in which Jewish communities were decimated during the Holocaust.