Yom HaShoah is a day of commemoration for the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, and for the Jewish resistance during that period. It is a national memorial day and public holiday in Israel, and a day of commemoration for Jewish communities and individuals around the world.
The extermination of millions of Jewish people, as well as many others, during World War II was a crime against all humankind. In remembering the Holocaust and paying tribute to its victims, we renew our commitment to fight against Holocaust denial and the evils of anti-Semitism.
The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that the Holocaust is not forgotten. To that end, Canada co-sponsored the UN resolution that led to the recognition of January 27 as the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. In 2007, Canada co-sponsored another UN resolution that condemned denial of the Holocaust.
Canada is now a full member of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research. We were granted this honoured status last June.
Also in June 2009, the Government of Canada announced support of close to $1 million to develop and operate a three-year National Task Force on Holocaust Research, Remembrance and Education. Through the help of B’nai Brith Canada, this task force brings together scholars, legal experts, educators, Holocaust survivors, and community representatives to further Holocaust research and education in Canada.
The Holocaust stands alone in human history for its horror and its inhumanity. It is essential that we remember and learn from this unfathomable crime, and that we defend the inviolable dignity of the human person.
That is why I was deeply honoured to be in Poland this past January to participate in a conference on Holocaust education and research as part of the events surrounding the 65th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
As Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, I call on all Canadians to reject anti-Semitism, to learn about the Holocaust, and to remember its victims.
