Gibraltar Lecture at the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival

Minister for Tourism Gilbert Licudi introduced the Gibraltar Lecture at the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival. The lecture was delivered to a packed auditorium by bestselling historian Laurence Rees who talked about his landmark publication on the Holocaust. In his book, Mr Rees examines two of the fundamental questions in history - how and why did the Holocaust happen?
In introducing the lecture at the Oxford Martin School Mr Licudi made particular mention of how Gibraltar commemorates Holocaust Memorial Day and referred to the work of the charity Learning from Auschwitz. Mr Licudi talked about the uniqueness of Gibraltar's multi-cultural and harmonious society.
"Laurence Rees delivered a deeply moving and captivating lecture about this horrific episode in human history,” said me Licudi.
“We are honoured that he has accepted our invitation to repeat the lecture at the 5th Gibunco Gibraltar International Literary Festival in November this year. The Government continues to support the concept of event-led tourism in an unprecedented way and our Festival continues to grow in stature."
Laurence Rees spent 25 years meeting survivors and perpetrators of the Holocaust, and his account features their previously unpublished eyewitness testimonies. His book is the first authoritative and accessible account of the Holocaust published in three decades and is supported by the Holocaust Educational Trust and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Mr Rees is a former head of BBC TV history and creative director of BBC television history.
The Lecture was generously sponsored by the Gibunco Group and was delivered in association with the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.
At the invitation of the Government the first Gibraltar Lecture at the Oxford Literary Festival was given by Ben Okri in 2014, by Professor Frank Close in 2015 and Boyd Tonkin in 2016.