Province to Recognize Holocaust Memorial Day

Premier John Hamm will introduce legislation tonight to commemorate the Holocaust annually on Yom haShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day in Hebrew. This worldwide commemorative day occurs in the spring.

"This act will provide an opportunity for all Nova Scotians to remember the victims of the Holocaust and to honour those who fought to defeat the tyranny and genocide of the Nazis and their collaborators," said Premier Hamm. "It should be remembered and studied in our schools so that we can all learn about the horrors of racism and of ethnic cleansing."

Shoah, the Holocaust, refers to the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by the Nazis and their collaborators between 1933 and 1945. Six million Jewish men, women and children were murdered.

"We are extremely pleased and grateful that the province has recognized the unique aspect of the Holocaust, particularly the systematic slaughter of six million Jewish men, women and children by the Nazis and their collaborators," said Victor Goldberg, president of the Atlantic Jewish Council and Eastern chair of the Canadian Jewish Congress.

"Canada played an important role in defeating the Nazis and their collaborators, but recent events in Austria and elsewhere reinforce the need to remember and educate so as to avoid recurrence of this type of atrocity," said Mr. Goldberg. "The Atlantic Jewish Council and the Canadian Jewish Congress salute the province for its action and hope that all Nova Scotians will work together in the future to advance human rights issues and multiculturalism."

Yom haShoah is determined by the Jewish lunar calendar, which means that the date changes annually. This year Yom haShoah is recognized on May 2.

Holocaust Memorial Days have been proclaimed in Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia. In Nova Scotia, the day will be proclaimed as Holocaust Memorial Day.