THE BBC has been forced to apologise for appearing to avoid saying “Jews” in their coverage of the Holocaust Memorial Day.
At least four Beeb presenters instead opted to say that six million “people” died in the heinous World War 2 genocide.
The corporation has faced a furious backlash for this wording during the broadcasting of the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on Tuesday.
BBC Breakfast presenter Jon Kay introduced the report saying the day was “for remembering the six million people murdered by the Nazi regime over 80 years ago”.
Martine Croxall in one clip also read the same script, as did BBC World News presenter Matthew Amroliwala.
The word “Jews” was also chalked off the BBC Radio 4 report on Holocaust Memorial Day.
The phrasing was swiftly condemned by appalled sections of the Jewish community, who described the decision as “hurtful, disrespectful and wrong”.
The Beeb apologised and said the wording was “incorrect” and vowed to issue a correction, reports The Daily Mail.
A spokesperson said: “In the news bulletins on Today and in the introduction to the story on BBC Breakfast there were references to Holocaust Memorial Day which were incorrectly worded, and for which we apologise.
“Both should have referred to ‘six million Jewish people’ and we will be issuing a correction on our website.”
Holocaust Memorial Day takes place every year on January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland.
The BBC added: “This morning‘s BBC programming commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day. The Today programme featured interviews with relatives of Holocaust survivors, and a report from our Religion Editor.
“In both of these items we referenced the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. The Chief Rabbi recorded the Thought for the Day.
“BBC Breakfast featured a project organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust in which a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust recorded her memories.”
Appalled figures in the Jewish community hit out at the BBC’s script after the shows went to air, slamming the phrasing as “unacceptable”.
Karen Pollock CBE, Chief Executive, Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “The Holocaust was the murder of six million Jewish men, women and children.
“Ignoring that the victims were Jews, widening the figure to include all victims of the Second World War, or attempting to draw in contemporary conflicts, is an abuse of the memory of the Holocaust and an insult to victims and survivors.
“Any attempt to dilute the Holocaust, strip it of its Jewish specificity, or compare it to contemporary events is unacceptable on any day.
“On Holocaust Memorial Day, it is especially hurtful, disrespectful and wrong.”
Lord Pickles, co-chair of UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation, former UK Special Envoy for post-Holocaust Issues and former chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance accused the Beeb of “aiding” Antisemitism”.
He said: “This is an unambiguous example of Holocaust distortion, which is a form of denial.
“This kind of obfuscation was common during the Soviet control of parts of Europe. For the BBC to use it today is shocking.
“They should be fighting Antisemitism, not aiding it.”
The blunder comes just months after outgoing BBC director-general Tim Davie ordered all staff to complete a training course on antisemitism.
Staff have six months to complete the course as Mr Davie hopes to stamp out “discrimination, prejudice, and intolerance” at the BBC.
The move was welcomed by the Board of Deputies and leading Jewish figures.
Earlier on Holocaust Memorial Day, the King paid tribute to Holocaust survivors, saying those who are gone are “with us in spirit”, as he and the Queen hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace.
Holocaust survivors and their families, with representatives from organisations protecting the memory of the Holocaust, first joined Charles in the East Wing, where they viewed portraits of survivors commissioned by Charles in 2022 when he was the Prince of Wales.
Last year, Charles became the first British monarch to visit Auschwitz, marking 80 years since its liberation.
Charles was first greeted by Helen Aronson, 98, a survivor of the Lodz ghetto in Poland.
As he bent down to kiss her in her wheelchair, in front of her portrait by Paul Benney who painted the Queen’s Coronation portrait, Helen, grasping his hand, asked how he was.
