A LOCAL MP whose descendants were murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust fought back tears as he spoke in the House of Commons debate marking Holocaust Memorial Day.

Alex Sobel, who represents the Leeds North West constituency for Labour, which contains Otley, Yeadon, Pool-in-Wharfedale and Bramhope, was speaking this afternoon during the debate.

Holocaust Memorial Day is held annually on January 27 to commemorate the Jews and other who were killed, imprisoned and suffered during the Holocaust under Nazi Germany persecution.

It is held on the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in 1945 by Soviet forces.

A debate is being held in the House of Commons for MPs to speak marking the important day, and also for some to share personal stories about the impact that the Holocaust had on their constituents, themselves, and their communities.

Mr Sobel, who is Jewish, spoke of the impact the horrific event had on his family in an incredibly emotional speech.

He said: “A lot of our family are just ghosts of the past who were taken away from us by the Holocaust.”

He spoke of his paternal great-grandfather, who was murdered by the Nazis in the Belzec death camp in 1942, and had to pause to compose himself as he spoke about what happened to other family members.

This included an SS officer shooting a two-year-old boy, who was Mr Sobel’s uncle.

He said: “A child who never got to see adulthood, an uncle I never met.

“I often think about how small my family is. I’m the only child of only children, with very few relatives and a lot of our family are just ghosts of the past who were taken away from us by the Holocaust.”

Mr Sobel said his father “very much keeps alive the deep and scarring memories” of his family’s experiences of the Holocaust, adding: “Today is so important because we have one day each year that we can share and remember, that’ll be one day to say we won’t forget – but we have every other day to do what we can to strive for a better world and no more genocide.”