The full membership of Canada’s House of Commons observed a minute of silence today in tribute to the victims of the Nazi Holocaust.
The observance took place just before the start of the daily question period. Earlier, a half dozen members of Parliament representing the three political parties introduced separate motions urging Canadians never to forget the tragedy of the Holocaust that ended with the defeat of Nazi Germany 40 years ago.
Meanwhile, the three-day gathering of Holocaust survivors and their children held its final session in the main hall of the Canadian Jewish Congress Center here. It was devoted to the younger generation who heard accounts not only of the Holocaust but of the threats today to the Jews of the Soviet Union, of Syria and other Arab countries. The session was chaired by Louis Rasminsky, a former Governor of the Bankof Canada.
The importance of constant vigilance, of positive action to maintain Jewish values and to bring Nazi war criminals still at large to justice was stressed by the speakers — Greta Fischer, a social worker involved in the resettlement of Jewish orphans in Canada; Victor Goldbloom, president of the International Council of Christians and Jews; and McGill University law professor Irwin Cotler.
The Holocaust survivors pledged to remember and to teach their children to keep the world aware of the depths to which humanity can sink, to fight anti-Semitism and to reaffirm their commitment to the State of Israel.
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