For Jeff Lieberman, president of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, the Holocaust still looms large in his life.
“To show an example to others, the Nazis took four of the Jewish leaders, including my grandfather, and hung them in the street,” he says. Lieberman’s grandmother, aunts and uncles were also killed before the end of the war, with his father the only one in his family to survive.
Jan. 27th is Holocaust Remembrance Day, with 2025 marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Lieberman and other advocates say it’s more important than ever to reflect on these horrors, especially with Holocaust denial on the rise.
A recent survey showed 18 per cent of Canadians between 18 and 24 years of age believe the Holocaust was exaggerated.
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“Every Holocaust Remembrance Day, there are fewer and fewer first-hand witnesses,” says Jeremy Maron, curator of Holocaust and genocide content at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. “Which is why its so important to promote education, so these lessons of this horrific past are not forgotten.”
A rise in antisemitic violence has been reported across Canada, ever since the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. Belle Jarniewski, executive director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, says it’s being stoked by a growing tide of online disinformation.
“They’re getting information that is posted by people who have an agenda, and that agenda is antisemitism, or people who just don’t know any better, and it’s very worrisome,” says Jarniewski.
She also believes the way to counter hate is partially with education. A new Holocaust curriculum is being developed for Manitoba students, and Jarniewski says it should include in-depth history of Jewish people and antisemitism.
Isha Khan, CEO of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, says understanding history is crucial.
“If we don’t understand what happened in the Holocaust, it’s very difficult to navigate many of the things that are happening around us today,” says Khan.
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