Canada Remembers the Six Million Jews Who Perished During the Holocaust

Parliamentary Secretary Parm Gill attends the annual Yom Hashoah V'Hagvurah Holocaust Commemoration Ceremony

VAUGHAN, ON, April 27, 2014 /CNW/ - As part of its annual Yom Hashoah V'Hagvurah commemorative ceremony, the Jewish community of the Greater Toronto Area came together today at the Schwartz/Reisman Centre, in Vaughan, to pay tribute to the six million Jews who lost their lives during the Holocaust. Parm Gill, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs, attended the ceremony on behalf of the Honourable Julian Fantino.

Quick Facts

• More than one million Canadians and Newfoundlanders stepped forward during the Second World War to defeat Nazism and all it represented. More than 45,000 of these brave men and women made the ultimate sacrifice in hopes the world would never again know such brutal tyranny and human depravity.
  
  
• Kamp Westerbork was the site of a large transit and work camp in the Netherlands. Some 100,000 people were taken to Kamp Westerbork and then by train to Auschwitz and other death camps. Anne Frank was among the thousands held there.
  
  
• On April 12, 1945, the Canadian 2^nd Infantry Division liberated the several hundred inhabitants still at Kamp Westerbork. Today, the camp is a museum. It is a place of reverence and remembrance.

Quotes

"Canadian survivors of the Holocaust have inspired our nation through their hard work and indomitable will. Their stories of perseverance and unfailing hope must be shared with all. They must be preserved and handed down from generation to generation, so that one day, we can confidently say: Never again."
The Honourable Julian Fantino, Minister of Veterans Affairs

"I am truly honoured to represent Minister Fantino at this important ceremony. Thanks in part to the sacrifices and achievements made by Canadians during the Second World War, almost 350,000 Jews now live in our country, helping us to stay true to our inner convictions and ideals of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law."
Parm Gill, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs

Associated Links

• Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre
• The Canadian Society for Yad Vashem
• Kamp Westerbork

SOURCE: Veterans Affairs Canada

Nicholas Bergamini
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Veterans of Affairs
613-996-4649

Media Relations
Veterans Affairs Canada
613-992-7468