Karen Emma Pollock (born May 1974) is a British activist and is the chief executive of the

Holocaust Educational Trust The Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) is a British charity, based in London, whose aim is to "educate young people of every background about The Holocaust and the important lessons to be learned for today." One of the Trust's main achievements ...

(HET).

Early life

Pollock, who is Jewish, read French and Italian at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

. She was politically active while at university, engaging with the National Union of Students and the Union of Jewish Students.

Career

Pollock was director of the All-Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism. She later joined the

(HET) in 1998 as Director of Communications. Pollock was promoted to chief executive of the organisation in 2000. One campaign led by Pollock was asking the government to recognise British people who had saved Jewish lives during the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. Pollock was praised by politicians across the spectrum for 'Lessons from Auschwitz', a programme that has enabled thousands of sixth form and university students to visit

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

. Alongside HET, she is involved with the anti-fascist organisation ''

Searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely luminosity, bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a part ...

'' and the ''

London Jewish Forum Established in 2006, The London Jewish Forum (LJF) is dedicated to the promotion of Jewish life in London. The Forum provides a platform for engagement between London Jewry and the Greater London Authority, Mayor of London, London Boroughs and MP ...

'', as well as the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust of which she was a founding trustee. She represented The

Board of Deputies of British Jews The Board of Deputies of British Jews, commonly referred to as the Board of Deputies, is the largest and second oldest Jewish communal organisation in the United Kingdom, after the Initiation Society which was founded in 1745. Established in 17 ...

at the United Nations World Conference against Racism in 2001 and 2009. She is a vice-president of the

Jewish Leadership Council The Jewish Leadership Council (previously known as the Jewish Community Leadership Council) is an organisation in the United Kingdom, founded in 2003, whose declared aim is to forward the interests of the organised Jewish community in Britain. T ...

. She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2012 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2012 were announced on 31 December 2011 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand,the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, and

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to Holocaust education.

Political views

In an opinion piece in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

, entitled "Of course the Holocaust is relevant to Israel now", Pollock compared the

and the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel, writing that "Jews will inevitably connect the trauma of an attack that murdered more than a thousand innocent civilians with the trauma of Nazi massacres." She also wrote that "The world turned its back" on Jews, "after Hitler came to power", and, now, regarding 7 October, "there are many who once again looked on, many who justified it and a distressing number who even celebrated it."Karen Pollock
"Of course the Holocaust is relevant to Israel now"
''The Guardian'', 29 October 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollock, Karen 1974 births Living people 20th-century British Jews 21st-century British Jews Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Jewish women activists