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Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Part of UK in Holy See

19th December 2012

Remembering the Holocaust

Photo: L'Osservatore Romano copyright, all rights reserved
Lord Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, received in Audience by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, 12 December 2011.

70 years ago, Europe was the scenario for an unprecedented and horrific experiment: the systematic effort to exterminate an entire race.

On 17 December, Foreign Secretary William Hague marked the 70th anniversary of a declaration by the Allies denouncing the barbarous and inhumane treatment of Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe – “the bestial policy of cold-blooded extermination” – with a message on behalf of the British Government.

A week after that 17 December 1942 declaration, on Christmas Eve, Pope Pius XII – from the Vatican, unoccupied and independent, but surrounded by the territories of Axis-controlled Europe – gave a lengthy radio broadcast focusing on war, peace and human rights.

In that broadcast, he said:  “Humanity owes this vow to those hundreds of thousands who, without any fault on their part, sometimes only because of their nationality or race, have been consigned to death or to gradual extinction”.

The Shoah must not be forgotten. In 1998, Pope John Paul II called for “memory to play its necessary part in shaping a future in which the unspeakable iniquity of the Shoah will never again be possible”. One of the most effective international instruments for remembrance is the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF).

As the Foreign Secretary noted in his statement, the United Kingdom is preparing actively to assume the chairmanship of the ITF in 2014/15. We look forward to working in that role with all those who recognise the need to remember, including the Holy See.

About Nigel Baker

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as…

Nigel was British Ambassador to the Holy See from 2011-2016. He presented his Credentials to Pope Benedict XVI on 9 September 2011, after serving 8 years in Latin America, as Deputy Head of Mission in the British Embassy in Havana, Cuba (2003-6) and then as British Ambassador in La Paz, Bolivia (2007-11). In July 2016, Nigel finished his posting, and is currently back in London.

As the first British Ambassador to the Holy See ever to have a blog, Nigel provided a regular window on what the Embassy and the Ambassador does. The blogs covered a wide range of issues, from Royal and Ministerial visits to Diplomacy and Faith, freedom of religion, human trafficking and climate change.

More on Nigel’s career

Nigel was based in London between 1998 and 2003. He spent two years on European Union issues (for the UK 1998 EU Presidency and on European Security and Defence questions), before crossing St James’s Park to work for three years as The Assistant Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. At St James’s Palace, Nigel worked on international issues, including the management of The Prince of Wales’s overseas visits and tours, on the Commonwealth, interfaith issues, the arts and international development.

Nigel spent much of the early part of his FCO career in Central Europe, after an initial stint as Desk Officer for the Maghreb countries in the Near East and North Africa department (1990-91). Between 1992 and 1996, Nigel served in the British embassies in Prague and Bratislava, the latter being created in 1993 after the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia into the separate Czech and Slovak Republics.

Nigel joined the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) in September 1989. Between 1996 and 1998 he took a two year academic sabbatical to research and write about themes in 18th century European history, being based in Verona but also researching in Cambridge, Paris and Naples. The research followed from Nigel’s time as a student at Cambridge (1985-88) where he read history and was awarded a First Class Honours degree, followed by his MA in 1992.

Before joining the Foreign Office, Nigel worked briefly for the Conservative Research Department in London at the time of the 1989 European election campaign.

Nigel married Alexandra (Sasha) in 1997. They have one son, Benjamin, born in Bolivia in September 2008.

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