Karen Pollock

Pollock was politically active while at university, engaging with the National Union of Students and the Union of Jewish Students.[1]

She was Director of the All-Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism.

She later joined the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) in 1998 as Director of Communications. Pollock was promoted to chief executive of the organisation in 2000.[1] One campaign led by Pollock was asking the government to recognise British people who had saved Jewish lives during the Holocaust.[2] Pollock was praised by politicians across the spectrum for 'Lessons from Auschwitz', a program that has enabled thousands of sixth form and university students to visit Auschwitz concentration camp.[3][4]

Alongside HET, she is involved with the anti-fascist organisation Searchlight and the London Jewish Forum, as well as the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust of which she was a founding trustee.[1][3]

She has written for The Guardian, Jewish News, The Jewish Chronicle, and The Huffington Post and gave a TED talk entitled 'The search for humanity in the Holocaust' for TEDxDurhamUniversity 2016.[5]

She represented British Jews at the United Nations World Conference against Racism in 2001 and 2009.[1]

She is a vice-president of the Jewish Leadership Council.[2]

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to education, specifically about the Holocaust,[6] and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to Holocaust education.[7][8]