Task Force For International Cooperation On Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research

Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research in Canada

---

International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2012:

Canadian governments (federal, provincial, and territorial) acknowledge 27 January as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.  Federally, this day is marked with official statements by Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, and by several provincial/territorial premiers.  As well, a number of events will be held by non-governmental organizations in Canada to mark the day.

At the federal level, the Government of Canada also commemorates Holocaust Memorial Day ("Yom Ha Shoah") which is determined in each year by the Jewish lunar calendar. Canada has also officially declared 17 January as Raoul Wallenberg Day, designated for reflection on the evils of racism and hate and the profound impact that an individual who speaks out can have.

The Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre, in partnership with the National Theatre School of Canada, invites people to discover 10 objects from its collection. Through this special guided tour of the Museum, people will discover the history of these artefacts, the stories behind them and of those to whom they once belonged.  Information on reservations and tour times can be found on their website.

The Centre will also launch a human rights website, highlighting how young adults are and can be involved in human rights issues, on January 19. A link is made with the Righteous among the Nations during the Holocaust.  More information on this can be found here.

B'nai Brith Canada, in partnership with the Turkish community, will co-host a premier screening of Turkish Passport. This new film, produced in Turkey, tells the little-known story of Turkish diplomats who went to extraordinary lengths to save Jews with Turkish passports trapped in Nazi-occupied Europe.  These screenings, at events designed to bring together diverse communities in Holocaust remembrance, will be held in Montreal (January 25), Toronto (January 26) and Winnipeg (January 28).

The Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre in Toronto, will be presenting their third-annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day Lecture, sponsored by the Ester Bern Memorial Fund.  The 2012 lecture will take place on January 29 and feature Professor Robert Jan van Pelt.

The Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Vancouver and Annette & Norman Rothstein Theatre, under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy, will screen 50 Italians: The 50 Men Who Saved 50,000 Jewish Lives on January 30.  The film tells the story of how 50 high-ranking Italian diplomats and generals saved almost 50,000 Jewish lives, helping them to escape persecution, deportation and death.  More information is available here.

The Government of Canada is deeply committed to the work of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF).

Le gouvernement du Canada est fermement déterminé à participer au Groupe de travail pour la coopération internationale sur la recherche, la mémoire et l'enseignement de l'Holocauste (ITF).

Canada believes it is critically important to be engaged in efforts to ensure that future generations understand the Holocaust and the roots of anti-Semitism and racism. This is why our government refused to participate in the Durban II conference, led the world in walking out on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he addressed the United Nations in September of 2009, and why the Prime Minister was selected to receive the Simon Wiesenthal International Leadership Award.

Le Canada estime qu'il est très important de prendre part aux efforts visant à assurer que les générations futures comprennent l'Holocauste ainsi que les racines de l'antisémitisme et du racisme. C'est pour cette raison que notre gouvernement a refusé de participer à la conférence Durban II, qu'il a été le premier à tourner le dos au président iranien, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, lorsque celui‑ci s'est adressé aux Nations Unies en septembre 2009 et que le premier ministre a été choisi comme récipiendaire du Prix du leadership international Simon Wiesenthal.

Membership in the ITF provides us with the opportunity to work internationally to combat racism and anti-Semitism, while ensuring that the Holocaust, a crime against humanity unparalleled in history, is not forgotten and never repeated.

Notre qualité de membre de l'ITF nous donne la possibilité de travailler à l'échelle internationale pour lutter contre le racisme et l'antisémitisme, tout en nous assurant que l'Holocauste, le pire crime contre l'humanité jamais commis, n'est jamais oublié ni répété.

The Honourable / L'honorable Jason Kenney, PC, MP / C.P., depute
Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism
Ministre de la Citoyenneté, de l'Immigration et du Multiculturalisme

Canada and the ITF

Canadian Delegation - From Left to Right

Mary Farrell, Department of Citizenship and Immigration - Dr. Frank Bialystok, Professor, University of Toronto, Canadian Jewish Congress - Dr. Kori Street, Professor, Mount Royal College - Alain Goldschläger, Director, University of Western Ontario, Holocaust Research Institute -  Jillian Stirk, Canada's Ambassador to Norway - Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism - Frieda Miller, Executive Director, Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre - Julia Smith, Department of Citizenship and Immigration - Alice Herscovitch, Executive Director, Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre.

Canada became the 27^th member of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF) on June 24, 2009 in Oslo, Norway.

"Membership in this important body provides Canada with an opportunity to work internationally to combat racism and anti-Semitism," said Minister Kenney. "This Government believes it is critically important to be engaged in efforts to teach future generations the lessons of the Holocaust and help prevent future acts of genocide."

To be eligible for the ITF membership, Canada completed a comprehensive baseline study on Holocaust education, remembrance and research in Canada, and undertook a project with partners in the United States and France. Canada's project was a conference on Holocaust issues in the Canadian context, titled The St Louis Era: Looking Back, Moving Forward.

This event was organized by the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith (B'nai Brith Canada). It brought together about 200 government officials, academics, educators, community leaders and Holocaust survivors to discuss the effects of Canada's restrictive immigration policy during World War II.

Participants examined how to best educate future generations about the Holocaust and its linkages to Canada, as well as human rights violations throughout the world today.

At the conference, Minister Kenney also announced funding for B'nai Brith Canada for the the creation of a National Task Force on Holocaust Research, Remembrance and Education. This body will conduct an extensive study of the MS St. Louis incident, which saw a ship carrying Jewish passengers from Germany refused refuge in North America on the eve of the Second World War; develop educational materials for students and training materials for educators; and become the central repository for information on Holocaust research in Canada.

For more information, and to download conference audio recordings, please visit http://www.stlouis2009conference.ca.

Shortly after receiving membership in the ITF, Canada participated in The Holocaust Era Assets Conference from June 26-30, 2009 in Prague, Czech Republic. The conference was a follow-up to the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust-era Assets, which addressed issues relating to art restitution and archives.

Education

The Holocaust was a horrendous part of human history that should never be forgotten.  Everything should be done to maintain all information about that period of human history.

Lisa Avedon, Holocaust Survivor

In Canada, provincial and territorial governments are responsible for all aspects of education. Teachers are governed by self-regulating bodies (similar to those of lawyers, doctors and engineers). These bodies determine the standards and criteria for becoming a teacher and continuing education.

In each province and territory, the Holocaust is part of the social studies and/or history curriculum, and sometimes it is included in English language arts. Teaching about the Holocaust reaches all students as it is part of mandatory courses. All of the provinces have declared Holocaust Memorial Days, which involve students and members of the public.

Below are some examples:

The Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre in Toronto, Ontario offers an annual teachers seminar on the Holocaust. As well, teachers from across Canada participate in a program offered by the General Romeo Dallaire Genocide Institute in Ontario which covers the Holocaust.  The Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre also co-ordinates a yearly Holocaust Education Week to coincide with the anniversary of Kristallnacht.

For a number of years the Winnipeg Foundation and the Asper Foundation have funded an annual student education program and tour to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Education Centre. To date, over 6000 students from twelve provinces and territories have participated in the program, including over 320 Aboriginal students.

Organizations that provide Holocaust education

Abbotsford Community Services (www.abbotsfordcommunityservices.com)

Asper Foundation (www.asperfoundation.com)

Atlantic Jewish Council (www.theajc.ns.ca)

B'Nai Brith Canada (www.bnaibrith.ca)

Calgary Jewish Community Council (www.jewishcalgary.org )

Canadian Jewish Congress (www.cjc.ca)

Canadian Society for Yad Vashem (www.yadvashem.ca)

Freeman Family Foundation Holocaust Education Centre www.jhcwc.org/fffhec.htm)

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies (www.fswc.ca)

Facing History, Facing Ourselves (http://www.facinghistory.org/offices/toronto)

General Romeo Dallaire Genocide Institute

Holocaust Awareness Committee, Jewish Federation of Winnipeg (www.jewishwinnipeg.org/page.html?ArticleID=20075)

Holocaust Centre of Toronto ( www.holocaustcentre.com)

Israel Experience Centre, Asper Jewish Community Campus

Jewish Federation of Edmonton ( www.jewishedmonton.org)

Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada ( www.jhcwc.org)

Kamloops Cariboo Regional Immigrant Society (www.immigrantservices.ca)

Kleinmann Family Foundation (www.kffeducation.org)

Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre / Le Centre commémoratif de l'Holocauste à Montréal (www.mhmc.ca)

Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan, Inc.

Okanagan Jewish Community (www.ojcc.ca)

Saint John Jewish Historical Museum (http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/sjjhm)

Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (www.vhec.org )

Victoria Holocaust Remembrance and Education Society (www.hopesite.ca/vhres/vhres_descrip.html)

Winnipeg Foundation (www.wpgfdn.org )

Remembrance

We often say that we have rights, but we have responsibilities as well. Take, for example, the right to know so that we may better understand and learn. With this right comes the responsibility to remember, to look to the past and to hold on to the stories of those who have lived it.

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada

At the federal level, the Canadian Holocaust Memorial Day was established in 2003. Holocaust Memorial Day in Canada is determined in each year by the Jewish lunar calendar. The Day commemorates the deaths of millions of Jews who perished as a result of a policy of hatred and genocide during World War II.

Canada has officially declared January 17th as Raoul Wallenberg Day to reflect on the evils of racism and hate and the profound impact that a person who speaks out and acts can have.

Governments, universities and NGOs also acknowledge January 27th as the UN's declared International Day of Holocaust Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. This day is marked by official statements and events across the country.

Ontario was the first province in Canada to pass a Holocaust Memorial Day Act in 1998. By April 2001, ten provinces had passed a Holocaust Memorial Day act. Each act pledges the province to promote and ensure a continued commitment to human rights and multiculturalism.

The annual date of the day of remembrance for the provinces, as with the national day, is set in conjunction with the Jewish lunar calendar on Yom ha-Shoah. In St John's, the capital city of Newfoundland and Labrador, remembrance events are also held on January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945.

The Government of Canada is establishing a new national museum, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR), in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The museum's mandate is to explore the subject of human rights in order to educate the public, to promote respect for others and to encourage reflection and dialogue. The museum is expected to open in 2012.

Research

This genocide was so premeditated and grotesque in design, so monstrous and barbaric in scale, and so systematic and efficient in execution, that it stands alone in the annals of human evil. To this day, the Holocaust terrifies and mystifies.

Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada

Serious research and study of the Holocaust began in the 1970s in Canada. At that time, many academics began incorporating research on the Holocaust into a variety of fields of study at educational institutions. Canada has a number of exceptional researchers and scholars in the field of Holocaust Studies.

Canadian Academic Centres and Chairs

McMaster University's Resistance Collection

Includes the largest collection of letters to or from prisoners of Nazi concentration camps in Canada, and materials related to the resistance movement, underground literature, concentration camps, anti-Semitism, and propaganda.

Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS)

Canada's pre-eminent research centre for the study of genocide and its prevention. MIGS published Holocaust survivor memoirs written by Montrealers.

St. Thomas University's Holocaust Centre

Canada's first Holocaust Centre in Atlantic Canada and the first such centre in a Catholic university in Canada.

University of Toronto - Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Chair in Holocaust Studies

Advances scholarship on the history, causes and consequences of the Holocaust.

University of Western Ontario's Holocaust Literature Research Institute

The Holocaust Literature Research Institute/Institut de recherche sur la Litérature de l'Holocauste currently has a collection of more than 2,000 texts.  It is the second largest collection of Holocaust survivor testimonials and witness accounts outside of Israel.