An Emerging ‘Holocaust Memorial Problem?’ The Condition of Holocaust Culture in Britain

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 2021 and 2022, two major developments in Britain’s Holocaust culture are due to occur: the launch of completely revised Holocaust galleries at the Imperial War Museum London and the opening of a new national memorial and learning center alongside the Houses of Parliament. This article looks toward these events by way of examining trends and trajectories since the turn of the millennium. It argues that Holocaust culture in Britain is currently characterized by acute polarity and beset with a number of systemic issues. These include the collapsing of commemoration and education into one another, along with an emerging political agenda to tie Holocaust history and memory to ‘British values.’ Borrowing from James E. Young, the article suggests that if these trends continue, then the early 2020s may well mark the arrival of a ‘Holocaust memorial problem.’