An accurate understanding of the Holocaust and the systematic slaughter of six million Jewish people is "critical" if the lessons of the past are to be learned, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum has stated.

The museum spoke out three days after Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January, when President Donald Trump and the White House came under severe criticism for a statement on the Holocaust that failed to mention Jews.

The museum says: "The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored murder of six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators. Nazi ideology cast the world as a racial struggle, and the singular focus on the total destruction of every Jewish person was at its racist core. Millions of other innocent civilians were persecuted and murdered by the Nazis, but the elimination of Jews was central to Nazi policy. As Elie Wiesel said, 'Not all victims were Jews, but all Jews were victims.'

"The Holocaust teaches us profound truths about human societies and our capacity for evil. An accurate understanding of this history is critical if we are to learn its lessons and honor its victims."

The original White House statement read: "It is with a heavy heart and somber mind that we remember and honor the victims, survivors, heroes of the Holocaust. It is impossible to fully fathom the depravity and horror inflicted on innocent people by Nazi terror.

"Yet, we know that in the darkest hours of humanity, light shines the brightest. As we remember those who died, we are deeply grateful to those who risked their lives to save the innocent.

"In the name of the perished, I pledge to do everything in my power throughout my Presidency, and my life, to ensure that the forces of evil never again defeat the powers of good. Together, we will make love and tolerance prevalent throughout the world." 

Among those who criticised it was Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti Defamation League, who said Holocaust Memorial Day was created to reflect on the "singular tragedy" of the annihilation of the Jewish people.

"In the US, the White House has used the day to issue respectful statements that remind us of this unspeakable tragedy and look forward. For more than10 years, Republican and Democratic administrations appropriately have anchored their proclamations on the notion of Jewish suffering or called out the poisonous anti-Semitism that prompted the Holocaust to happen.

"And yet, something changed this past week.

"President Trump's statement on January 27 commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day appropriately called out the suffering of innocents as well as the heroism of those who took personal risks to save others. It expressed a commitment to make sure that such an evil never takes place again. Such sentiments are laudable. However, the statement bizarrely lacked one key fact, overlooking the defining aspect of Holocaust Remembrance Day  –  the horror that befell the Jewish people."

Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told CNN: "Despite what the media reports, we are an incredibly inclusive group and we took into account all of those who suffered."

CNN also contrasted the Trump administration's statement with those of past statements by George W Bush and Barack Obama. 

Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer has branded criticis of the statement as "pathetic".