A new exhibition is exploring what Britain knew about the Holocaust as it happened, described as a "complex and unsettling" story. This comes amid plans to establish a permanent national memorial in London.
The exhibition, which was privately viewed by MPs in Portcullis House in September, will tour the country. It highlights that information about the atrocity reached Britain much earlier than is generally understood.
Research for the exhibition draws on newspaper reporting, broadcasts, academic scholarship, witness testimony, and government archives. Martin Winstone, senior historical adviser to the Holocaust Educational Trust, noted that information about the Holocaust, including the locations of death camps, was smuggled out of Poland by couriers to the London-based Polish government-in-exile.
The exhibition is a sample of a more extensive, permanent exhibition intended for the national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, planned for a site in London. The Holocaust Memorial Act 2026, which received royal assent this year, provides legal clearance and government funding for the project, though a confirmed opening date is not yet available as a planning application is being redetermined.