Victims of the Holocaust remembered

75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION OF CONCENTRATION CAMPS

The 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, was marked in January 2020. Soviet soldiers entered the largest, most infamous of Nazi death camps on January 27, 1945 and found thousands of prisoners left behind by SS guards who had evacuated the camps.

In 2005, that day was designated as the annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. More than one million people were sent to gas chambers and to their death at Auschwitz during the Holocaust. Each year, Canadians and individuals all over the world take this opportunity to remember the millions of victims of the atrocities of the Holocaust and reflect on the dangers of anti-Semitism.

The Government of Canada website’s account of the history of Canada and the Holocaust is as follows:

“While Canada did not directly experience the Holocaust, it was impacted in many ways by the tragedy. Canada’s restrictive immigration policies at the time largely closed the door on Jews seeking to flee Europe. This included 937 Jewish passengers of the M.S. St. Louis, who were refused entry into Canada, and many subsequently died in the Holocaust.

As a result of Canada’s wartime policies, nearly 2,300 men were interned as “enemy aliens” in camps across Canada between 1940 and 1943. These were mostly Jewish refugees from Austria and Germany.

The Canadian experience of the Holocaust was also one of resilience and hope. In April 1945, Canadian forces liberated the Westerbork Transit Camp in the Netherlands, including 900 Dutch Jews who were still interned there.

As a nation, Canada has also been profoundly shaped by approximately 40,000 Holocaust survivors, who resettled across the country after the war. Today, Canadians remember the Holocaust, commemorate its victims, and renew the commitment to fight against racism, discrimination and anti-Semitism.

In 2010, Canada led the development of the Ottawa Protocol on Combating Antisemitism. This international action plan will help nations measure their progress in the fight against anti-Semitism. In 2011, Canada became the first country to sign the Protocol.”

There are fewer than 100,000 Jews still alive today who were in camps, ghettos and living secretly under Nazi occupation, according to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. These aging survivors are the last generation of witnesses to the Holocaust.

TELLING THEIR STORIES

The 75th anniversary is seen as an occasion to join thousands of others who are committing to fighting antiSemitism and continuing Holocaust education and remembrance. Despite the decision to postpone the physical Liberation75 event due to health concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers have continued with the #IWillTellYourStory social media campaign.

The campaign is an answer to the question of who will tell their stories when survivors are no longer able to do so. #IWillTellYourStory is designed to inspire and engage people of all ages, backgrounds and religions to publish a spoken or written promise to continue telling the story of a specific Holocaust Survivor. This is done through posting a short video and/or a photograph and caption.

The Liberation75 event was originally planned for May 31-June 2, 2020 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Due to COVID-19, the event has been moved to 2021 with new dates and venue to be announced.

A Liberation75 statement says; “In 1945, Jewish and other victimized groups were liberated from Nazi tyranny. 75 years later, the important anniversary is marked by remembering the victims, honouring the survivors, showcasing the future of Holocaust education, reflecting on anti-Semitism in the world, celebrating the role of the liberators, and committing to protecting freedom, diversity, human rights and inclusion.”

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, 2020, Audrey Azoulay, director-General of

UNESCO, stated:

“Seventy-five years ago, the 100th and 322nd divisions of the Soviet Army’s “1st Ukrainian Front” reached the Nazi concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, whose very name symbolizes the barbarism of the killing centres and concentration camps. (...) In the name of a racist and anti -Semitic ideology, people of all ages were deemed unworthy of living and were systematically murdered on a continental scale. (…) It is thus our duty to fight against speeches, wherever they are made, that seek to deny the existence of the Holocaust, that minimize its scale, or that attempt to absolve the murderers and their accomplices of their crimes. (...) It is precisely the role of UNESCO to make every effort to improve public awareness, strengthen intellectual defences, in a word, educate – because people are not born anti-Semitic, people are not born racist, they become so.”