The Nazis › Remembrance, museums and learning resources
Remembrance, museums and learning resources
Remembering the Holocaust is a shared responsibility. This page covers Holocaust Memorial Day, places you can visit in the UK and trusted resources for teachers.
Holocaust Memorial Day
Holocaust Memorial Day is held every year on 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT), a UK registered charity, promotes it. The day remembers the six million Jewish people murdered in the Holocaust and the millions more killed under Nazi persecution. It also remembers the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, and encourages people to resist prejudice and hatred today, including in the UK.
HMDT suggests several ways to take part: attend or organise a local event, join a school or youth programme, light a candle in your window as part of the national "Light the darkness" moment, write a tribute page for someone murdered in a genocide, or share the day online. Each year has a theme, so check the HMDT website for the current one.
Places to visit
IWM London: Holocaust Galleries
The Imperial War Museum in London has Holocaust Galleries, which opened in 2021 alongside redesigned Second World War galleries. A review in The Past describes rooms densely packed with personal items, including a birth certificate of a baby born in a concentration camp who survived, a section of barracks from a sub-camp of Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen shown publicly in Britain for the first time, and a final room on the Nuremberg Trials. The subject is very challenging, and some visitors find it too much to take in during one visit. Check the IWM website for opening times, tickets and advice about age suitability before you travel.
The Wiener Holocaust Library, London
The Wiener Holocaust Library describes itself as one of the world's leading archives on the Holocaust and Nazi era. It was founded in 1933 by Dr Alfred Wiener, has been in the UK since 1939 and has been at 29 Russell Square in central London since 2011. Its collections include about 70,000 books and pamphlets, 45,000 photographs and a million press cuttings. According to the source we used, it is open Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm, with exhibitions, events and the reference library free to the public. Check opening times before you travel.
Other places
Further afield, the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial in Poland, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC all offer extensive online material, including testimonies and learning resources. Many UK towns and cities also hold local events and memorials; ask your local council or library.
Resources for teachers
- Holocaust Memorial Day Trust: offers resources for primary, secondary and SEND schools, plus youth activities and arts competitions.
- Holocaust Educational Trust: runs the Lessons from Auschwitz project for post-16 students and their teachers, which visits Auschwitz-Birkenau. The page we reviewed says it has taken more than 18,000 students and teachers from across the UK.
- Yad Vashem: a digital educational resource site with classes and programmes for elementary, middle and high-school levels, a video toolbox and materials for school ceremonies. Check the site for language options.
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: its Holocaust Encyclopedia has articles, timelines and maps, many of which we used for this site.
- Wiener Holocaust Library and IWM: both provide collections, exhibitions and learning programmes.
Teaching tips
- Teach the history of the Holocaust before turning to lessons, and keep Jewish life before 1933 in view, not only the persecution.
- Use individual stories carefully and avoid simulation activities.
- Avoid graphic imagery, and give students space to react.
- Prepare for denial, distortion and antisemitic comments. See why Holocaust denial is false and the extremism guidance.
Keep learning
Start with how the Nazis rose to power, then read persecution and the Holocaust. The sources listed below are the best next step.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January?
It is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945.
Can I visit the Wiener Holocaust Library for free?
According to the source we used, exhibitions, events and the reference library are free to the public, open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm. Check opening times before you travel.
What is Lessons from Auschwitz?
A Holocaust Educational Trust project for post-16 students and their teachers that includes a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau.