"Last summer, I had the great privilege of lighting the Eternal Flame at the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre, Yad Vashem. I was not at all prepared for my visit to the memorial or the role I was invited to play.Having studied history to degree level, including the rise of the Nazis, the Second World War and the reconstruction of the world in its aftermath, I thought I would be ok to revisit the history of the Holocaust. However, coming face to face with what happened to Jews across Europe just eighty years ago, provided a stark demonstration of why Holocaust Memorial Day is such an important point on our calendar and why I am committed to tackling antisemitism now.

The Nazis, and those who collaborated with them, oversaw the murder of 6 million Jewish men, women and children, as well as almost as many others including homosexuals, Slavs and Roma. Before their gas chambers were developed, they simply shot those they deemed unsuitable. They stole their homes and possessions, drove them into ghettos before tricking them to board trains to extermination camps. Once at these camps, the overarching rule was that those going to their death be deceived until the end.

At one of the less well-known death camp, Treblinka II, the number of Jews murdered in a little over 12 months was 870,000. Just 30-40 German SS members were responsible for this slaughter, alongside 800-1,000 Jewish slave labourers and SS volunteers.

The deaths of these Jewish men, women and children was the culmination of years of extensive antisemitism in Germany under and preceding the Nazis. Artefacts at the Yad Vashem memorial highlight how anti-Jewish attitudes developed through the use of propaganda. This use of media, art, and rhetoric to influence the attitudes of the community was widespread. Many ordinary Germans came to believe the lies they were exposed to – that Jewish people were inferior, dangerous and needed to be removed from German society.

In modern times we are also exposed to messaging that can influence how we view the world and, as antisemitism is on the rise again, we need to guard against it and ensure we do not find ourselves in ‘echo chambers’ – spaces where all we hear is one view.

Ahead of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day, last week I signed the Holocaust Education Trust’s Book of Remembrance in Parliament. Each year, MPs from across the political spectrum take time to sign this book and commit to tackling antisemitism. For me, this means supporting the new Plymouth Jewish Community group which has been set up in the city, and it means standing with those who are persecuted for their race and religious beliefs, here at home and across the world."