Holocaust Memorial Day

Resource type: Event

Price band: £

Key stage: KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5

Region(s): All of UK

Holocaust Memorial Day takes place annually on the 27th January, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. The theme for 2026 is Bridging Generations, a reminder that the responsibility of remembrance does not end with the survivors but lives on through all of us.

On Holocaust Memorial Day we remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of non-Jewish people murdered by the Nazis and in more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. It is an occasion for everyone to come together to learn, remember, reflect and consider what action we can take to stand up to hatred, discrimination and racism in the world today.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has created a number of resources for primary and secondary schools that can be used to explore the theme and support teaching and learning:

Theme Vision document that looks at different way to interpret the year’s theme.
Guidance documents to support teachers as they deliver Holocaust and genocide education to students of different ages and abilities.
Resources for primary, secondary and SEND students, including a new film exploring how the Holocaust began with words not violence, as well as life stories from survivors, ideas for assemblies and activities for tutor time.

Cost: Free

About the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust: The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust is a charity established and funded by the UK Government to promote and support Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) in the the UK.

Further resources:

Tom Palmer is working with the National Literacy Trust to create KS2 and KS3 resources to mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2026. As well as a 5-part read-aloud story based on the real wartime journal of a young Viennese girl called Inga, there will be a writing challenge and an online event with special guest Ruth Barnett.
The UCL Centre for Holocaust Education offers a range of resources to support teachers, from classroom resources to CPD opportunities. There is also a suite of lesson plans for pupils aged 11-14 based around Tom Palmer’s novel After the War available to download.
Explore a range of Holocaust Memorial Day resources created by Tom Palmer for previous years on his website.
For books that explore the events surrounding the Holocaust, see BookTrust’s booklists for UKS2 and teenagers.
Explore the 20 Powerful Reads for Holocaust Memorial Day from book recommendation site LoveReading4Kids.
Download free teaching notes created by Just Imagine to accompany Michael Rosen’s The Missing: The True Story of My Family in World War II. You can also listen to Michael talking about the book on this In the Reading Corner podcast for teachers and librarians.
The National Holocaust Centre and Museum has developed a free app for iPad that follows the journey of Leo, a young German Jewish boy living in 1930s Berlin. The app is aimed at children aged 9+ and there are accompanying lesson plans.
The Holocaust Educational Trust offers free resources to support both primary and secondary teachers, including their flagship resource Exploring the Holocaust for pupils aged 11-14.
LGfL, working with partner organisations such as The Wiener Holocaust Library, has created a portfolio of resources to support the delivery of Holocaust Education.
BBC Teach has a range of resources to help mark Holocaust Memorial Day in primary and secondary schools.