SALISBURY City Council's administration has dismissed claims the authority will ‘dilute’ Holocaust Memorial Day by taking a “different approach” to the event in January 2025.

An email sent to councillors by the council's community services lead, seen by the Journal, describes its plans to mark the occasion with an event that will not “single out any one cultural group” but “celebrate them all”.

This will take inspiration from Channel 4's Altogether Different campaign and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust's 2025 theme, ‘For A Better Future’.

A memorial book will be open, and local groups are encouraged to provide music, dancing and speeches and demonstrate positive community action.

But councillor Edward Rimmer (Reform UK, Bemerton Heath) accused the administration of “targeted erasure” and “moral cowardice” over its plans.

He raised his concerns at a full council meeting held at the Guildhall on Monday night.

The city council's plans for Holocaust Memorial Day were raised at a full council meetingThe city council's plans for Holocaust Memorial Day were raised at a full council meeting (Image: Newsquest) Cllr Rimmer asked: “Can this administration truly justify its decision to convert Holocaust Memorial Day — a day specifically dedicated to commemorating the systematic extermination of six million Jewish men, women, and children — into a general event that ‘does not single out any one cultural group’?

“At a time when antisemitism is surging across the UK, this shift risks conveying indifference, if not outright disregard, for the unique suffering of Jews and the specific lessons of the Holocaust.

“By altering Holocaust Memorial Day to avoid ‘singling out’ the Jewish community, the council’s actions align disturbingly with the definition of antisemitism, which includes treating Jews differently and failing to acknowledge their unique experiences.

“Does this administration truly believe it can build a ‘future for Salisbury’ by erasing the historical significance of the Holocaust in the name of inclusion?

“What message does this send to Salisbury’s Jewish residents, and to all citizens, if Holocaust remembrance is reduced to a generic celebration of diversity?

“How does the administration defend this choice to dilute Holocaust remembrance in the context of its stated commitment to confronting all forms of hate?”

Landmarks across the UK were illuminated purple to mark Holocaust Memorial Day in January 2024Landmarks across the UK were illuminated purple to mark Holocaust Memorial Day in January 2024 (Image: Sam Churchill/Holocaust Memorial Day Trust/PA) Cllr Ian Tomes, the Labour administration group leader, responded: “Holocaust Memorial Day is what it says: it's a day on which we reflect and remember the holocausts which have taken place throughout the world.

“It remembers the eight million people who were killed throughout the Holocaust in the Second World War: Six million Jews and two million others.”

He said the day also remembers the victims of genocides in Rwanda (1994) and Bosnia (1992-95).

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust's official website also references genocides in Cambodia (1975-79) and Darfur, Sudan (2003-05).

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Cllr Tomes continued: “Over time, Holocaust Memorial Day has changed, but I don't believe we have moved away from what it was about. 

“We have always remembered and reflected across the community, we have always been inclusive and we have always reached out to those groups that have been affected.

“I disagree fundamentally with what you have been saying. We always include all groups within Salisbury. We are sticking rigidly to what the memorial day is about.”

After the meeting, Cllr Rimmer said the administration's response was “completely contrary” to the council's initial communication and claimed his question was “essentially ignored”.

Holocaust Memorial Day will be held on Monday, January 27, 2025.