Cariboo Press: Survivors attend Holocaust ceremonies at the B.C. legislature, where six candles represent those killed

By: Tom Fletcher

VICTORIA - Some were frail but all were firm in their commitment to remember, as more than 90 survivors of the World War II death camps and purges in Europe gathered at the B.C. legislature for a memorial service Tuesday.

Attorney General Wally Oppal said B.C. was the second province to honour Holocaust Memorial Day with annual ceremonies the past five years.

"It's a day to remember the six million Jewish men, women and children killed by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945," Oppal said. "Holocaust Memorial Day is also a day to remember that over five million people died during the same time because of their physical or mental disabilities, race religion or sexual orientation."

Premier Gordon Campbell presented a framed certificate to Mark Weintraub, chairman of the Canadian Jewish Congress Pacific Region, and six survivors lit candles, one for each million people who died.

"As we watch so many precious people be ravaged by hatred and greed today, the lessons of the Holocaust, the Shoah, are still profoundly relevant," Weintraub said.

Rita Akselrod, president of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, recalled how as a child she fled Romania after Russian occupation and ended up in a camp in Austria, "stateless and without identity."

There she met her future husband Ben, who spoke a different language, and they eventually made their way to B.C. to raise their family.

"As a survivor I can tell you that one of our greatest concerns is that the Holocaust may be forgotten," she said.

Also appeared in the Victoria News, Parksville Qualicam News, Esquimalt News, Peninsula News Review, Sannich News, Oak Bay News, Goldstream News, Kamloops this week, Surrey Leader, Williams Lake Tribune, Peach Arch News and Chilliwack Progress.

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Toronto Star: Star cites CJC on Darfur Editorial

End Darfur carnage

Apr. 27, 2006. 01:00 AM

It is barely a slap on the wrist to the architects of Darfur's agony.

Even so, the United Nations Security Council vote this week to impose sanctions on leading Sudanese figures stirs hope that the council may yet muster the resolve needed to curb the rape, butchery and ethnic cleansing that has killed more than 200,000 since 2003, and driven 2 million from their homes.

The UN was shamed into action by U.S. President George Bush, over the self-serving objection of China, Russia and Qatar. The council voted Tuesday to slap a travel ban on Maj. Gen. Mohamed Elhassan, a key Sudanese official, and to freeze his assets. Also targeted were Sheik Musa Hilal, a janjaweed ally of the regime, and two rebels, Adam Yacub Shant and Gabril Abdul Kareem Badri.

This sends a signal to higher Sudanese and rebel figures that the UN expects power and wealth-sharing peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, to succeed, and soon. Otherwise the UN will consider stronger measures.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government should support this drive for stepped-up UN action, as the Canadian Jewish Congress urged this week atHolocaust Remembrance Day ceremonies.

Sudan recently barred UN staff from visiting Darfur, as scores more villages were razed. And yesterday the UN Children's Fund warnedviolence is rising, as is malnutrition.

If peace talks founder in the coming days, the UN should target Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, and serve notice that it will hold himaccountable for genocide.

Meanwhile, Sudan's African neighbours should press al-Bashir to accept a U.S.-backed plan to send 15,000 combat-ready UN troops to Darfur toreplace an ill-equipped African Union force of 7,000.

The UN has threatened for a year to get tough. It is past time to act.

Epoch Times: Holocaust Memorial Calls on World to Renounce Indifference

By Joan Delaney
Epoch Times Victoria Staff

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL: An Orthodox Jew looks at photographs of Jewish victims of the Nazis in the Hall of Names exhibit in the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial museum in Jerusalem, Israel. (David Silverman/Getty Images)

The horror of the holocaust was brought to life for many who attended a Holocaust Memorial ceremony at the Victoria legislature on Tuesday afternoon. Hosted by the Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism Wally Opal, the memorial is an annual event held in provincial legislatures and the Canadian Parliament to commemorate those who perished in Europe between 1933 and 1945.

Premier Gordon Campbell, the first to address the audience of about 140 which included over 90 holocaust survivors, said the Holocaust was such a profound tragedy that it defies explanation even decades later. Calling the Holocaust "a cold, dark stain spilled across the great woven blanket of human history," Campbell said it's our shared responsibility to remember a time "when hate ruled."

During the ceremony, six Holocaust survivors lit six candles in memory of the six million Jews who died, and Campbell presented a special certificate to Mark Weintraub, chair of the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC). CJC was instrumental in having April 25th set aside as Holocaust Memorial Day.

"As we watch so many precious people be ravaged by hatred and greed today, the lessons of the Holocaust, the Shoah , are profoundly relevant," said Weintraub.

Weintraub pointed out that the Holocaust began not in the gas chambers but with words. He said that it's vital to preserve the structures we have built in society to prevent the spread of hate. The so-called "final solution" was able to incubate and grow in a Germany that was "the best educated, the most modern and the most technically competent of all nations" at the time. He said every aspect of German and other societies were complicit, including the legal and medical professions, business and academia, the military and the civil service.

"Those of us who didn't directly live through the Holocaust are unable to comprehend the limitless evil of the nazi ideology," says Weintraub. "How was it possible for so many to refuse to see the humanity of their neighbours?"

Rita Axelrod spoke of how as a child in Romania she experienced discrimination and persecution, which led her to conclude that the world was "indifferent and uncaring." She said the love of her family and her strong Jewish faith were all she had in those dark days. She believes it's a miracle she survived, and said her greatest concern as a survivor is that the Holocaust may be forgotten.

"This event offers an important opportunity to ensure remembrance and helps us to reflect on the moral responsibility of individuals as well as communities and governments," said Axelrod.

Rick Kool, President of the Victoria Holocaust Society, read a moving passage from a new Jewish liturgy, which he said was intended to assist in the memorialization of what happened to the Jews of Europe.

"Our parents were not meant to live," said Kool. "We were not meant to exist,"

Millmann's mother was 21 when the Germans bombed Warsaw. Her mother's twin sister was forced by the Nazis to dig her own grave, and her uncle was hacked to death by their neighbours while other family members were forced to watch. Millmann's grandfather died of a broken heart that night, and soon after her two-year-old cousin was buried alive. Her father's family met a similar fate. Her parents survived only because they were taken prisoner by the Russians and sent to the Gulag in Siberia.

Citing the genocides of Rwanda and Darfur, Millmann said the "human monster" is not far beneath the surface of society's civilised veneer. She used to believe a day would come when the Holocaust would no longer need to be remembered, but the reality is that there are now more than 6,000 websites in existence dedicated to hatred, complete with recipes for mass murder.

"The world we live in is ever more frightening," said Millmann. "Public hatred of Jews is acceptable again and it has led to murder…. Fascism is back, and it's spreading."

Millmann spoke about Elie Wiesel's contention that the opposite to love in this world is not hate but indifference, and the only weapon to fight indifference is memory.

"We have so much work to do, and we cannot do it alone. We must all unite, as we must all be witnesses, and struggle beyond our human weaknesses. So let us all renounce indifference."

Vancouver Sun: Genocide is occurring in Sudan, Holocaust survivors' daughter says

Genocide is occurring in Sudan, Holocaust survivors' daughter says: 'There's a genocide going on and the world doesn't admit it'

Page: B5
Section: WestCoast News
Byline: Lindsay Kines
Dateline: VICTORIA
Source: Victoria Times Colonist

VICTORIA - Isa Milman used to wonder why people stood by while the Nazis murdered six million Jews in Europe more than 60 years ago.

Now the Victoria woman, whose parents survived the Holocaust, fears the same indifference that allowed the killing of her relatives then is allowing another slaughter in Darfur, Sudan.

"There's a genocide going on and the world doesn't admit it," said Milman, 56, following her Holocaust Memorial Day speech at the B.C. legislature Tuesday. "They speak about it in other terms and there's nothing stopping it. And it's so similar to what happened to Jews in the Holocaust. It's not enough to remember what happened in the past. I mean, the whole point is to be aware of what's going on today."

As more than 90 Holocaust survivors attended the ceremony, Milman and the Canadian Jewish Congress urged Canadians to honour survivors and victims alike by speaking out against the massacres in Darfur. B.C. politicians who attended the ceremony wore green "Darfur" ribbons given to them by the congress.

"We are calling upon all Canadians to redouble their efforts to attempt to ensure that the post-Holocaust mantra of "never again" is imbued with real meaning," said Mark Weintraub, chairman of the congress's Pacific region.

The Jewish community has spoken out in the past about genocides in places such as Rwanda and Cambodia, he said. "But our voices were not loud enough, and the voices of our other brothers and sisters in Canada and the world, were not loud enough. And this time we made a decision that we were going to have very loud voices."

Two years ago, the congress began lobbying politicians about the unfolding crisis in Darfur. It succeeded in getting Canada to commit $200 million to support the African Union peacekeeping effort in the west of Sudan.

"Canada became a lead country in the Darfur region, but it has been tragically insufficient," Weintraub said.

The Associated Press reported last month that at least 180,000 people have died -- some estimates put the toll much higher -- and millions of people have been displaced since the start of a 2003 revolt by rebels from Darfur's ethnic African population. The Arab-dominated Sudanese government is alleged to have responded to the revolt by unleashing Janjaweed militias, who carried out sweeping atrocities against ethnic villagers, the news agency said.

Weintraub, a Vancouver lawyer, is encouraging people to write letters to newspapers, politicians, the prime minister, to push for an end to the killings.

"This is my message to my fellow citizens: You would be astounded by the impact that one letter can have in communicating what is a profound concern. Have your church groups, your synagogues, your mosques, all of your organizations commit to anti-genocidal work."

Milman, who runs the epilepsy program for the Victoria Epilepsy and Parkinson's Centre, said she, like others, often feels helpless in the face of such horrors.

"But I think, like Elie Wiesel said, our job as human beings is to be witnesses, and to not be indifferent," she said.

"That is what is the problem always. Indifference. It's like, 'Oh, it's not my problem. I don't need to worry about it. Somebody else will take care of it. It's not me. It's not my family. So why should I worry?'

"But we are a family of human beings in this world, and if we don't take care of each other, we know what happens."

Edition: Final
Story Type: News
Length: 574 words

BC News Release: PREMIER MARKS HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY

For Immediate Release

Office of the Premier

2006OTP0079-000481

April 25, 2006

VICTORIA – The Province paid tribute today to the more than six million victims of the Holocaust in a ceremony attended by over 90 Holocaust survivors at the provincial legislature to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

“The lingering scar of the Holocaust stands out in human history as a profound and painful reminder that we must all stand united in the goal of stamping out hate and upholding the fundamental rights of every individual,” said Premier Gordon Campbell. “Today is a day to remember and reflect. We are honoured to be joined by those who endured so much and we pledge that their suffering and sacrifice will always be remembered.”

As part of the ceremony, six survivors lit six candles to remember the six million Jewish men, women and children killed by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945. Holocaust Memorial Day is also a day to remember the over five million people who died during the same time period because of their physical or mental disabilities, race, religion or sexual orientation.

“It is through commemoration and remembrance that we pass on the lessons from this dark time in history to future generations,” said Mark Weintraub, chair of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region. “We must combat racism and dehumanization in our time, so the millions of people who paid the ultimate price of hatred and fear did not make their sacrifice in vain.”

“In British Columbia, we value the diversity and equality that is demonstrated in our multicultural communities,” said Wally Oppal, Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism. “Today we reflect on the painful lessons of history and remind ourselves that hate and racism have no place in our society.”

Holocaust Remembrance Day is marked around the world. The Holocaust Memorial Day Act, passed in 2000, declares Yom Ha’Shoah, the Day of the Holocaust as determined each year by the Jewish calendar, as Holocaust Memorial Day throughout British Columbia.

British Columbia was the second province in Canada to enact legislation marking Holocaust Remembrance Day as an official day on the provincial calendar. Ten provinces have now passed this legislation.

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Media contact: Mike Morton
Press Secretary
Office of the Premier
250 213 8218

For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.