11 March 2014
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, will visit Yad Vashem tomorrow, March 12, 2014. He will be accompanied by Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev. The Prime Minister will visit the Hall of Names and the Museum of Holocaust Art, participate in a memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance, and visit the Children’s Memorial. At the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Shalev will present the Prime Minister with the book, “Postcards to a Little Boy” telling the Kindertransport story of Henry Foner, who was sent to England from Germany when he was six. Foner, now a resident of Jerusalem, will be present.
The Prime Minister visited Yad Vashem in 2007 as well.
During his visit to Yad Vashem tomorrow, the Prime Minister will meet with members of the Holocaust Commission he formed in 2013. Commissioners Mick Davis, Dame Helen Hyde DBE, Sir Peter Bazalgette, Natasha Kaplinsky, and Ben Helfgott MBE, are at Yad Vashem for study and discussions related to Holocaust education, commemoration and documentation during which they will meet with experts from Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies, visit the Archives and hear about developments in the use of new media and the internet.
During the Commissioners’ visit to Yad Vashem, a joint letter of intent between Yad Vashem and UK Holocaust centers, such as the Imperial War Museum, the Wiener Library for the study of the Holocaust and Genocide and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, will be signed by Mick Davis, Chair, Prime Minister’s Holocaust Commission, British Ambassador Matthew Gould and Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev. The agreement, endorsed by the British Government, calls for greater cooperation between Yad Vashem and the British organizations, including seminars for educators Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies for seminars and bringing Yad Vashem educators to universities in the United Kingdom, research exchanges, joint academic workshops and fellowships.
Media coverage of the Prime Minister’s visit is as follows:
Hall of Names: POOL photo-op
Meeting with Commissioners: POOL photo-op
Memorial ceremony, Hall of Remembrance: OPEN with valid GPO card and registration
Children’s Memorial, Signing of the Guest Book: CLOSED
POOL: AFP stills + AFP TV + Yedioth Ahronoth Stills
Media who wish to cover the visit should arrive at Yad Vashem by 15:30 for security. (POOL arrival: 15:15) Parking will be available at the main entrance to Yad Vashem in the bus parking. RSVP: 02 6443410.
