BBC presenter Martine Croxall has mounted a robust defence on social media following criticism of the corporation’s Holocaust Memorial Day coverage, sharing excerpts from her broadcast script to demonstrate she had referenced Jewish victims.
On Wednesday, Ms Croxall posted on X a portion of what she read during her programme, which stated: “According to estimates, some two-million people, mostly Jews, were murdered in the camp in the Holocaust.”
The presenter emphasised the timing of her broadcast, responding to critics by stating: “I went on air at 0900. This was in my first hour of broadcasting.”
Her defence came after the BBC issued an apology for failing to mention Jews in Holocaust coverage across three separate programmes on Monday, the anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation.
Martine Croxall addressed the BBC coverage controversy
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BBC
The corporation acknowledged that presenters on BBC Radio 4, BBC Breakfast and BBC World News had referred to “six million people” being killed during the genocide without specifying they were Jewish.
During the Today programme on Monday, broadcaster Caroline Nicholls initially described the victims as “the six million people murdered by the Nazi regime” before amending her script approximately thirty minutes later to include “mostly Jewish people.”
The Jewish community condemned the original phrasing as “hurtful, disrespectful and wrong.”
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, appeared on BBC Breakfast but subsequently criticised the broadcaster’s approach.
Martine Croxall hit back at accusations on X
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X
Historians have confirmed that roughly six million Jews were systematically killed by the Nazis between 1941 and 1945, representing approximately two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population at the time.
The X account JewishWomenCount challenged Ms Croxall’s response, writing: “When called out, Martine doesn’t apologise. She points to something different that she read out later. The BBC have no humility about their hatred of Jews.”
The account tagged the Holocaust Educational Trust in its criticism of the presenter’s defence.
Ms Croxall’s posting of her script came after widespread anger from Jewish figures who felt the corporation had effectively erased their community from Holocaust remembrance.
BBC Breakfast also issued the same statement
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BBC
Journalist David Collier described the coverage as “an absolute disgrace,” asking: “Apparently, ‘six million PEOPLE’ were murdered. People? Were they just randomly chosen? Have they no shame at all?”
He accused BBC News and the Today programme of having “completely erased Jews from the Holocaust story.”
Lord Pickles, who served as special envoy for post-Holocaust issues from 2015 until last year, delivered a scathing assessment of the broadcaster’s failure to highlight Jewish victims in programme introductions.
He characterised the omission as “an unambiguous example of Holocaust distortion, which is a form of denial.”
The BBC is facing a huge backlash over the incident
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BBC
Lord Pickles drew historical parallels, noting that “this kind of obfuscation was common during the Soviet” era.
Other critics argued the coverage played into growing Holocaust denialism, with one observer questioning how the BBC could make such an error given its claims to occupy a unique privileged position in the British media landscape.
Another commentator wrote: “If ever there was an attempt to eradicate Jews from history, this is it.”
The total victims of Nazi persecution, including other targeted groups, exceeded thirteen million people.
