Birmingham City Council apologizes for failing to mention Jewish people in Holocaust Memorial Day press release

On receiving a press release about the Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration organized by Birmingham City Council (BCC), The Jewish Telegraph noticed that the words “Jews” and “Jewish” were completely absent.

The BCC press release stated that the event, led by Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Zafar Iqbal,  “commemorates the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi persecutions, as well as other genocides around the world,” diluting the meaning of the Holocaust Memorial to become a general genocide day. 

Though rapidly updated following public criticism, the original press release read: “This Memorial Day marks the anniversary of Auschwitz-Birkenau’s liberation, the largest Nazi concentration camp complex and commemorates the millions of lives lost through Nazi persecution, and the genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda and Darfur.”

There have been other genocides throughout history but Jan. 27 was chosen as the date to commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz, and the victims of the Holocaust. While some ten million were killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust, six million were Jewish, murdered purely for their ethnicity. 

The council later amended the page on their website and released a public apology for the oversight.

Councillor Jamie Tennant, cabinet member for social justice, community safety and equality, told the Jewish Telegraph: “Holocaust Memorial Day is an established and important part of Birmingham’s civic calendar,” he assured. “It commemorates the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were murdered, and reflects on the consequences of antisemitism, hatred and persecution.”

“We acknowledge concerns that our recent communications did not explicitly reference Jews, who were the primary victims of the Holocaust, and apologise for any offence this may have caused,” adding, “Jewish suffering and the historical reality of the Holocaust are central to our commemoration.”

Councillor Tennant added: “Birmingham City Council has a long‑established relationship with the city’s Jewish community in shaping and delivering Holocaust Memorial Day, and this partnership continues to inform how the day is commemorated.”

Birmingham City Council has apologised after a press release about its Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration failed to mention the words “Jews” or “Jewish” as revealed in last week’s Jewish Telegraph.
To read the full article: https://t.co/GE5Kgc9nV9 pic.twitter.com/ZUKWfOPNj2

— Jewish Telegraph | e-edition.jewishtelegraph.com (@JewishTelegraph) January 25, 2026

Birmingham City Council has also been embroiled in the scandal surrounding the ban on Israeli football fans at the fixture between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Birmingham’s Aston Villa, since found to be based on falsified evidence. 

The Jewish Telegraph posted their interactions with the council on social media, and several people commented expressing their doubts that it was a mistake. 

“Do we laugh or do we cry? You couldn't make this stuff up,” said one user. “​​A Judenrein Holocaust,” lamented another on 𝕏.

Another pointed out that Preston City Council had also failed to mention the words "Jews" or "Jewish" anywhere in the two statements they had posted on social media.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, established by the government in 2005, states that while the Holocaust in which six million Jews were murdered is “central” to Holocaust Memorial Day, they also encourage the highlighting of the targeted persecution that has taken place in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

“The Holocaust threatened the fabric of civilisation, and discrimination and persecution must still be resisted every day,” the Trust urges. “Our world often feels fragile and vulnerable and we cannot be complacent. Wherever it takes place, including in the UK, prejudice and the language of hatred must be challenged by us all.”