ABSTRACT

Holocaust Memorial Day was first held in Britain on 27 January 2001, the 56th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. This chapter addresses the question of why, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, a state-sponsored commemoration should be initiated of an event which took place over half a century ago and outside Britain’s shores. The creation of a new, national, ritual-even one ostensibly about a past eventis not just an outcome of a mounting impetus to remember: it also speaks of, and to, the time and place of which it is part. Among other things, I argue, Holocaust Memorial Day articulates a reconfigured vision of national identity, legitimated through reference to the past and the iconic evil of modern times.