April 16, 2015 - Ottawa, Ontario - Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
Andrew Bennett, Canada’s Ambassador for Religious Freedom, Head of Canada’s Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, today issued the following statement:
“Today marks Yom HaShoah, the international day on which we solemnly commemorate the millions of innocent victims, including six million Jewish men, women and children, who were brutally murdered at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust over 70 years ago. The events of the Shoah remind us of the human capacity for brutality and denigration of the dignity of each individual human being. Yet in the midst of the suffering, there emerged many ‘Righteous Among the Nations,’ people who risked their lives saving those threatened with death, thereby revealing to us the human capacity for selfless sacrifice and compassion.
“Canada continues to strongly support Holocaust remembrance and education initiatives, which are central to combatting anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in the world today, including through the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental organization composed of 31 member countries and eight observer states.
“Canada remains steadfast in its determination to honour the innocent victims and survivors of the Holocaust and to never allow such unspeakable crimes to be forgotten or repeated.”
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