'Holocaust memorial needed now more than ever'
Dave WardA memorial to educate young people about the Holocaust is needed "more than ever" after a spate of threats, those behind the bid have said.
The Lake District Holocaust Project wants to rebuild a school in Windermere on the site that housed 300 children rescued from World War Two concentration camps.
Trevor Avery, who is not Jewish but leads the project, said he received death threats in the post and abuse on the street from people about the work he does.
"It's been a tough few years and being a public-facing Jewish project you become like a lightning rod for all kind of characters out there," he said.
Jewish people living in England have reported a rise in abuse and antisemitic attacks in recent years.
The Lake District Holocaust Project runs an exhibition about the Windermere children at the town's library.
Extra safety measures, normally reserved for synagogues, have been put in place to protect the site, Avery said.
"We had huge swastikas in the middle of Windermere village just last year, I was screamed at in the street."
He said he had received threatening letters which were "terrifying" and he feared tensions could "flare up at any time".
"This is why we need this more than ever," he said of the education centre.
BBC/Wall to Wall/Lake District Holocaust ProjectThe project has submitted an application to the Department of Education for funding to rebuild the school and create a memorial on site.
Plans would include creating community spaces such as sport and art facilities to be used by community groups.
Avery works with schools teaching children about the Holocaust and said hate crime in Cumbria was a growing concern.
He said hate crime and youth crime generally could be partly addressed by engaging young people and giving them something to do.
"It's infecting the whole country, the polarisation, so we can do our little bit in Windermere," he said.
The application received support from the area's Lib Dem MP Tim Farron and fellow Cumbrian MP Josh MacAlister, Labour's under secretary of state for education.
The politicians discussed their ambition to see the project come to fruition during a Westminster Hall debate last week.
Farron, MP for Westmorland, Furness and Eden, said: "It will be a place for Holocaust education and remembrance, where hope can be built for a country that does not tolerate antisemitism and where we teach a hatred of hatred to the youngest in our society."
Avery said a response from the government was expected in the coming months.
A rise in antisemitism has been linked to the war in Gaza, which was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
More than 71,260 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
