Montreal ceremony tonight to commemorate Yom HaShoah: One People, One Fate

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Yom HaShoah, a commemoration for the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust, and for Jewish resistance during that period, begins Sunday night. In Montreal, it will be marked by an event at the Montreal Holocaust Museum beginning at 7 p.m. All are welcome.

Holocaust Remembrance Day, as the event is known colloquially in English, takes on added symbolism as the first Yom HaShoah since Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, abducted about 250 people and killed about 1,200, mainly civilians. Israel says the militants still hold about 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 more.

“As antisemitism rises once more, commemorating is not just about honouring the past, but also about demonstrating our unity and solidarity against hatred. This is our struggle,” said Montreal Holocaust Museum director Daniel Amar.

Yom HaShoah, first observed in Israel in 1951 and passed into law later in the decade, is viewed by many Jewish communities around the world as their primary day for Holocaust remembrance. International Holocaust Remembrance Day, established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005, is observed Jan. 27.

A recent survey of 1,100 Canadian respondents found their knowledge of the Holocaust was limited. Fifteen per cent of adults and 20 per cent of 18- to 34-year-olds surveyed hadn’t heard of the Holocaust or weren’t sure if they had. About half of respondents could not name even one concentration camp or Jewish ghetto.

The theme of this year’s Yom HaShoah event in Montreal is One People, One Fate. A 17-minute video to be shown features excerpts by seven survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp who provided oral testimonies to the Montreal Holocaust Museum over the years. They came from Poland, Hungary, Italy and Greece.

The testimonies remind us “of the significance of organized horror, planned extermination, and the silence of the nations,” event organizers say.

Many people think the Holocaust affected only Jews of Ashkenazi origin, but Sephardi Jews were also affected, said Eszter Andor, the museum’s oral history and commemorations coordinator.

Although the survivor community continues to dwindle, “we are still interviewing, looking for survivors and child survivors,” Andor said.

The purpose of the commemoration is “to reaffirm our commitment to remembering the victims, honouring the survivors, and reflecting on the lessons of the Holocaust to prevent future atrocities,” organizers say.

The event also highlights the museum’s role in “educating new generations about the dangers of racism, antisemitism and other forms of intolerance that threaten both our social cohesion and democratic values.”