We Must Never Forget, Op-Ed Piece

The Lessons of the Holocaust, by Mayann Francis, executive director, Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.

This week, the world pauses to remember one of the most heinous chapters of human history -- the Holocaust. More than six million Jews lost their lives in the Nazi death camps of World War II in a deliberate attempt to exterminate an entire culture. Mothers, fathers, children -- no matter their age, they were marked for death. It is a degree of killing which still stuns us, even in this age of live carnage on the all-news channels.

Here in Halifax, the Jewish community and its friends have been pausing to remember the millions who lost their lives in the Holocaust. On Monday night, April 8, I joined a ceremony for the second time at the Shar Shalom congregation, which lit candles of remembrance for the many Jews who went to their deaths at the hands of the Nazis. It was a moving ceremony, no less emotional for me because it was my second year attending. The names and ages of many of the victims were read aloud to signify that they have not been forgotten. We must never forget.

The Shar Shalom congregation opened its doors to the community on that night. They wanted to share their grief at the death of so many innocents, but also to let the world know that this should never be allowed to happen again. But sadly, the hate that led to the Holocaust is still with us and still leads to violence and death.

Shar Shalom welcomed two guest speakers at the ceremony who are well aware that this is true. They were witness to a modern-day genocide. Their stories, though chilling, were stirring for listeners because these young women remain hopeful.

Juliet Choco Karugahe and Sollange Umwalli have witnessed many things which I am sure they would like to forget. They have made their way to relative safety in Canada after being born and spending many years in the refugee camps of Kenya. Their families had been expelled from Rwanda before they were born, victims of hatred that led to brutal mass murders in the country during 1994.

While they build lives for themselves here in Canada, the thoughts and memories of the horrors in Rwanda are never far away. But someday they hope to return to their country to help it rebuild.

Has the world really learned nothing since Hitler's final solution was conceived? Half a century apart, yet so closely related, the horrors of the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda stand as a visible warning to all of us that hate can still lead to terrible things. Juliet and Sollange, knowing this only too well, were eager to urge those gathered at Shar Shalom to work to stop the mistakes of the past from being repeated. They talked about joining a group of young Jewish Canadians who travelled to the ruins of the concentration camps in Europe.

Who among us can imagine what this experience must have been like? Walking through the gates of the camps left an indelible impression on Juliet and Sollange. Being there with young Jewish people gave them the opportunity to share their feelings and ask the simplest of questions: Why?

That is a question we must ask ourselves: Why? Why do expressions of hate continue to sully our communities? After the shocking attacks on the cities of New York and Washington on Sept. 11, I spoke out to urge calm among Nova Scotians hoping that they would ask this same question of themselves.

We often have an image of Canada as a country that openly accepts its multi-cultural mosaic. Reality does not always match the image, however. A burning cross on a lawn in Moncton. Vandalism of a mosque in Halifax after the events of Sept. 11. And now, the fire bombing last weekend of a synagogue in Saskatoon. These are all very visible expressions of hatred and intolerance and they have all happened in Canada in the past year.

We are inundated with images of war and death on a daily basis, so much so that it may lose its ability to shock us. But Juliet and Sollange wanted the audience at Shar Shalom to know that genocide -- whether in World War II Europe or Rwanda -- can happen only if the rest of the world appears to condone violence. We all know that violence happens every day on television, in the movies or on the world stage. Juliet and Sollange emphasized that the world stayed quiet when genocide was gripping Rwanda in 1994. It also happened when Jews were being exterminated in World War II.

Let's not forget the impacts of hatred, discrimination and intolerance on our world. As remembrances of those killed during the Holocaust continue, I have one wish for our world -- Shalom. Peace.