World news story

Commemorating victims of the Nazi concentration camp at the Mauthausen Memorial, Austria

Sir Andrew Burns UK Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues joins Austrian ministers and European officials at the opening of the "Room of Names".

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Sir Andrew Burns, UK Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues, meeting Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger at the Mauthausen Memorial

Sir Andrew Burns, UK Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues, meeting Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger at the Mauthausen Memorial

On Sunday 5 May 2013, the Austrian government reopened the Mauthausen Memorial, remembering those who suffered during the Second World War in the Nazi concentration camp.

Sir Andrew Burns joined heads of states from Austria, Poland and Hungary, along with European ministers and officials at the opening of two new museums and a ‘Room of Names’ where the names of 81 000 victims have been engraved. 30 survivors from the camp also attended on the anniversary of their liberation in 1945.

Sir Andrew Burns, UK Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues at Mauthausen

The Government is committed to ensuring that the reality of the Holocaust is never forgotten, that issues still outstanding, such as restitution of property stolen during the Holocaust, are resolved and that the right lessons are drawn for the world’s continuing struggle against prejudice and hatred.

Sir Andrew Burns, the Foreign Secretary’s Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues, heads the UK’s post-Holocaust work abroad. He is tasked to ensure that the UK plays a prominent role in international discussions on all Holocaust-related matters, especially those relating to education and the opening of archives, and that we continue to respond to the concerns of Holocaust victims and their families.

You can read more in the Foreign and Commonwealth’s Human Rights and Democracy report.

Published 6 May 2013