Anne Frank would have been 80 tomorrow. You might have seen the image that the Anne Frank Trust have generated to show what she would look like if she had lived to today. I found it strangely unsettling. That said, the Trust’s work is magnificent and I strongly recommend you visit Anne Frank House in Amsterdam if you have the chance.

Yesterday the hate that prompted the Shoah paid a brutal visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial (USHM) in Washington DC. This is not the first time that the USHM has faced haters on its doorstep. In 1993, people demonstrated outside with placards reading: ‘Stop the big lie — the gas chamber hoax!’ In 2002 white supremacists plotted to blow it up with a fertiliser bomb.

The USHM is a very powerful memorial. No other Shoah memorial will ever have the intensity of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, but Washington comes the closest. When I visited last autumn I was taken aback by so much of the experience. For instance, several sections of the exhibition are very harsh on America’s response to the Holocaust. If only the attitude of more Europeans could be so honest and self-searching.

It’s eerie, because I also vividly remember being struck by how brave and warm the security guards were. Their warmth managed to take the edge off an otherwise harrowing visit. My thoughts go out to the family of Stephen T Jones, who was killed by the gunman there yesterday. An effective way of countering the hate that took his life – and those of the six million - is to keep visiting and supporting institutions such as Anne Frank House and USHM. Visit your nearest equivalent soon, even if you’ve been before.

“This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms,” said Barack Obama. We must, Mr President, we must. Please keep a good eye on Iran.