The Government has been urged to ensure that a Holocaust memorial planned to be built next to Parliament will be finished before the last survivor dies.
During Business Questions on Thursday, Conservative MP Bob Blackman paid tribute to Lily Ebert, a survivor of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
She died peacefully at home aged 100, her family announced on Wednesday.
The chairman of the Backbench Business Committee asked the Leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell, if the Holocaust Memorial Bill that is undergoing scrutiny in the House of Lords can be sped up.
The Holocaust Memorial Bill seeks to create a commemorative installation and a learning centre dedicated to the Second World War atrocity in Victoria Tower Gardens.
The location next to Parliament was recommended to the Government due to its “historical, emotional and political significance”.
Peers in the Lords have raised concerns around the project, specifically about the use of limited green space, the costs – which are estimated at £138 million plus £50 million contingency – as well as security concerns.
Mr Blackman began his championing of the Holocaust memorial by referring to Ms Ebert’s life and work.
He said: “On the ninth of July 1944 Lily Ebert arrived at Auschwitz Birkenau with her mother, her brother and younger sister, all of them were murdered in the gas chambers. Somehow Lily escaped.
“She dedicated her life to spreading the horrors of the Holocaust and recounting her story, and hundreds of millions of people around the world have seen her videos reciting her story.
“Despite the efforts of the Nazis she leaves behind, having died earlier this week, 10 grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren, and now one great-great-grandchild. So the attempts of the Nazis to wipe out her family failed.
“But we have a problem – that she dedicated her life to spreading the word about what happened in the Holocaust, in dedicating our words and our condolences to her family, it is now even more vital as the Holocaust survivors sadly pass away, that we get the Holocaust Memorial and the education centre built alongside this place.
“Obviously, the Bill is going through its stages in Parliament. Will (Ms Powell) do everything she can to speed up that process so that before the last Holocaust survivor sadly leaves us, they can actually see and witness the monument to make sure it never happens again?”
Ms Powell thanked Mr Blackman for his tribute to Ms Ebert, adding “she did indeed dedicate her life to ensure that the next generations are educated on the true horrors of the Holocaust”.
She continued: “(Mr Blackman) has spent most of his parliamentary career educating the rest of us on these important matters as well and, of course, in pushing forward the Holocaust Memorial Centre here in Westminster.
“He will know that that Bill continues its passage in the Lords. I was very pleased to make sure that that Bill was included in the King’s Speech programme of this Government and has early passage in the other place, and will hopefully receive Royal Assent at the earliest opportunity should all Houses wish it to do so.”
