Events occurring on or around International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Canada
- The Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre has organized a bilingual event to honour the 11 million lives lost under the Nazi regime, by examining responsibility towards genocide prevention and current human rights abuses in the world today. The event is called Remember & Take Action - 65 Years after the Liberation of Auschwitz and will be held in the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Museum on January 27th 2010 from 6-9pm. A theatrical reading of Katherine Kressman Taylor's Address Unknown will be followed by a panel discussion about the role of the everyday citizen in genocide prevention and other human rights abuses, and an opportunity to network with human rights organizations that offer volunteer opportunities.
- The Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre, in Toronto, is holding an educational event on January 27, 2010 (Annex C). The programme includes a talk on the role of Auschwitz-Birkenau in the Holocaust, and an address by a survivor of the camp, who will share some personal reflections. The Centre has also invited representatives from the Israeli and German consulates, and the Roma Community Centre in Toronto to deliver greetings. For Raoul Wallenberg Day on January 18, the centre has organised a public screening of the film "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler".
- The Jewish Federation of Winnipeg and the Gray Academy of Jewish Education have organized a conference to commemorate Raoul Wallenberg Day on January 18. The conference theme is Human Rights in Iran and the keynote speaker is the Hon. Irwin Cotler, joined by a wide array of speakers.
- B'nai Brith Canada (Alberta Chapter) is planning a short commemorativeprogram for January 27, possibly a short film and or speaker (to be determined) in Edmonton.
- The city of Hamilton (Ontario) is commemorating the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 27 (Remembrance and Beyond). Dr. Sol Messinger, survivor of the S.S. St. Louis, will be the special guest .
- A lecture will be held on January 27, 2010 at St. Thomas University to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Pinchas Gutter, a Holocaust survivor will speak on the following topic: "The Experience of a Jewish boy in Poland Before and During World War II" .
- TheVancouver Holocaust Education Centreand the Istituto Italiano di Cultura , in collaboration with the Norman Rothstein Theatre, will present a screening of the made-for-TV docudrama "Perlasca, An Italian Hero" (Perlasca: un eroe italiano), a drama about one man's remarkable courage in saving 5,200 Hungarian Jews from deportation to Auschwitz. This account of an Italian's resistance to Nazism is based on the true story of Giorgio Perlasca (Luca Zingaretti), a businessman who posed as the Spanish consul in Budapest at the end of World War II and managed to save thousands of innocent lives. Perlasca has been referred to as the "Italian Wallenberg." Streets in several provincial Italian towns as well as in Rome have been named after him. Following the screening, the exhibit "More Than Just Games: Canada and the 1936 Olympics" will be on view at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.
- On January 22 and 23 the Canadian Jewish Congress will be organizing a "Darfur Shabbat" across Canada. During this Shabbat, rabbis will take the opportunity to speak to their congregations about the vital importance of ensuring that the genocide in Darfur quickly comes to a definitive end and that the victims are rehabilitated while the perpetrators are tried. "Darfur Shabbat" is happening just a few days before the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Among other things, the Canadian Jewish Congress expects that rabbis will link the ongoing genocide in Darfur to the Holocaust, and the emergent calm to the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. This will, however, vary from synagogue to synagogue.
- The Atlantic Jewish Council will commemorate January 27 in a joint program with the Nova Scotia Community College. The guest speaker is Holocaust survivor Philip Riteman.
- The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies will be sending out an email to teachers, principals, superintendents and trustees of elementary and high schools, suggesting activities through which to commemorate January 27.
