Canadian Holocaust resources
Canada has invested significantly in Holocaust education, remembrance and research. In conjunction with being the Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2013-2014, Canada supported several new initiatives to increase understanding of the Holocaust across the country.
On this page
Education
- Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education
In October 2013, Scott Masters of Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto, Ontario was selected as the winner of the Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education and awarded $5000 to support Holocaust education at his school. - Community Historical Recognition Program – Jewish-Canadian Projects
The Community Historical Recognition Program (CHRP) funded Jewish community-based commemorative and educational projects. The projects recognized wartime measures and immigration restrictions in place during World War II. - The IHRA Resource Library
Canada is a member country to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The IHRA website holds a collection of vast educational resources accessible for all Canadians, including but not limited to policymakers, educational professionals, memorial and museum professionals, scholars and researchers, and journalists and media professionals.
Museums
- Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
The Canadian Museum of Immigration is located at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It includes an online gallery of stories from Jewish war orphans who came to Canada following the end of the Second World War. - Canadian Museum for Human Rights
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights opened in Winnipeg in 2014. There are 12 permanent galleries, covering a wide range of issues, including human rights, mass atrocities and the Holocaust. The “broken-glass” theatre examines Canada’s own experiences with antisemitism. - Canadian War Museum
The Canadian War Museum is home to an extensive permanent exhibition of art, artefacts and photographs. The museum’s “Forged in Fire” gallery includes information on Canada’s role in liberating Bergen-Belsen, a Nazi concentration camp. - Virtual Museum of Canada
The Virtual Museum of Canada contains over 600 virtual exhibits from institutions across Canada. It includes exhibits about the Second World War and the Holocaust.
Remembrance
National days
- Raoul Wallenberg Day – January 17
In 2002, Parliament declared January 17 as Raoul Wallenberg Day, which is celebrated annually on the anniversary of his disappearance. - International Holocaust Remembrance Day – January 27
In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated January 27 as the International Day of Commemoration. This day commemorates the anniversary of the liberation by Soviet forces of over 7,000 prisoners from the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. - Yom HaShoah – April/May
Yom HaShoah is Israel’s day of commemoration of the Holocaust. It is recognized in countries around the world. It is celebrated every spring on the 27th day of the Hebrew Calendar.
National monuments
- National Holocaust Monument
The National Holocaust Monument commemorates the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, and the other victims of Nazi Germany and its collaborators. It also stands as a tribute to the survivors who were able to make their way to Canada following one of the darkest chapters in human history. The monument recognizes the contributions these survivors have made to Canada and serves as reminder that Canadians must stand together against antisemitism, hatred, and intolerance. - Wheel of Conscience
The Wheel of Conscience monument is a tribute to the 937 Jewish passengers of the M.S. St. Louis. They were refused entry into Canada in 1939 and many subsequently died. The monument is located at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Commemoration
- Neuberger Holocaust Education Week
The Toronto Holocaust Museum’s Neuberger Holocaust Education Week is one of the institution’s most well-known annual signature public events and internationally recognized as a best practice in the field. It takes place throughout the month of November and presents an array of public programs and commemorations to engage the public on the history of the Holocaust and its legacy.
Research
- ACS Metropolis Institute
The Association of Canada Studies and Metropolis Institute is dedicated to fostering collaboration and advancing research to enhance understanding of diverse identities, integration, and immigration policies as well as a robust library of academic papers on the Holocaust and survey results on Holocaust literacy levels from a uniquely Canadian lens. - Canadian Heritage Information Network
The Canadian Heritage Information Network will expand its publicly accessible Artefacts Canada website to allow Canadian museums and art galleries to include more information on the provenance of objects. It is an important tool for researchers and heirs around the world who are trying to identify and locate artworks and other cultural material lost during the Holocaust. - Holocaust-related holdings at Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has developed a publicly accessible thematic guide that provides a list of Holocaust-related material in its holdings. The Research Guide to Holocaust-related Holdings at LAC provides an introduction to material from both archival and published sources that relates to a range of events and decisions before, during and after the Second World War. The guide includes both government and personal documents. - National Gallery of Canada Provenance Research
The National Gallery is committed to researching works in its collection that were purchased, sold or created during the Nazi period and have an unknown provenance.
Survivor testimonies
In the 1980s, a number of groups and organizations in Canada began to record the testimonies of Holocaust survivors for future generations. The Government is working with the community to find ways to preserve survivor testimony as an invaluable tool for Holocaust education.
Recorded collections
- The Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program – The Azrieli Foundation
The collection is made up of 12 Azrieli Series Short Films. A portion of each film also shows the authors reading an excerpt from their published memoir, combined with animation and narration, to bring the accounts to life. The films are supporting material for the Azrieli Series of Survivor Memoirs. - Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives (formerly Canadian Jewish Congress Charities National Archive)
The collection includes 75 interviews on VHS and audio tapes and is currently being digitized. At present, the collection is only accessible to researchers. - Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship (CHES)
The Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship (CHES) was established in 2015 as a community-based volunteer organization to address the growing need for Holocaust Education, given the rise in antisemitism around the world and within Ottawa. - CHES projects include the annual Holocaust Education Month programs, outreach to schools with an annual Teachers’ Workshop, a Speakers’ Bureau, and recording and sharing the testimonials of local survivors. CHES also develops events in cooperation with embassies, institutions in Ottawa, and numerous national and international organizations.
- Freeman Family Foundation Holocaust Education Centre of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada
The collection, located in Winnipeg, includes 15 audio testimonies from the 1970s and 49 video testimonies from the late 1980s. The majority of the collection is available to the public through the Centre. - Holocaust Education and Genocide Prevention Foundation (formerly Kleinmann Family Foundation)
The collection, located in Montréal, consists of approximately 25 interviews. The interviews address experiences during the Shoah. Access to the testimony is available on request, and a limited number of interviews are available online. - March of the Living
The collection includes memories of Holocaust survivors recorded at various Holocaust sites across Europe. The first recordings were filmed in 1988, and new recordings are filmed every year. Selected portions are available online. - Oral History Archive of Holocaust Survivors – McMaster University
McMaster University provides access to the University of Southern California Shoah Institute’s Visual History Archive collection. The collection contains nearly 52,000 survivor testimonies, including almost 3,000 from Canadians. The collection can be accessed by McMaster students and staff through the University Library. - Living testimonies – McGill University
The collection consists of 115 testimonies, which are being updated from analog to digital. Once digitized, they will be accessible through the McGill University library. - Montréal Holocaust Museum
The collection consists of 515 videos. The collection was initiated in 1989, and the recording of new testimonies is ongoing. A small number of videos are available to the public through the website and the National Film Board’s CitizenShift. Researchers, students and teachers may request further access. - Toronto Holocaust Museum
The collection contains approximately 400 testimonies. The testimonies are available to the public by appointment and can accessed through the library and resource centre located in Toronto. - Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
The collection contains approximately 200 digital and analog recordings. The collection was initiated in 1981, and testimonies continue to be recorded. The majority of the testimonies are available in person to researchers for research or education. A number of the testimonies are also available at the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonials at Yale University.
Written collections
- The Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program – The Azrieli Foundation
The collection of Holocaust Survivor Memoirs includes 35 published books — 22 in English and 17 in French — as well as over 170 unpublished memoirs. The published books are available free of charge to libraries and educational institutions or can be purchased from the website. - Memoirs of Holocaust Survivors in Canada – Concordia University
The collection consists of approximately 50 unpublished memoirs written by Montreal-based Holocaust survivors between 1986 and 2005. The texts are held at Concordia University in Montréal. The memoirs are also available online. - Holocaust Literature Research Institute
The collection is located at the University of Western Ontario. It includes 315 books with specific links to Canada in approximately 30 languages. It also includes an online catalogue of annotated bibliographies of survivor testimonials, with more than 3,600 entries searchable by 25 categories.