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Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship
Holocaust Education Month Activities
By Mina Cohn,
Director, CHES Committee
T he Centre for Holocaust Education
and Scholarship (CHES) of-
fered a full complement of activities
in November 2016 in observance of
Holocaust Education Month.
On November 3, Library and
Archives Canada played host to an
Ottawa first: a symposium for chil-
dren of Holocaust survivors. Dr. Paula
Draper, Holocaust historian and inter-
viewer for the Spielberg Foundation, and
Dr. Paula David, University of Toronto
Professor of Gerontology and Clinical November 9 - HEM Launch (From Left to Right) Pascale Claveter, recipient of the
Practice, led seminars for 80 partici- Arie Van Mansum Award, with Ria Euverman and Marg Harris, daughters of Ari Van
pants. Dr. Diane Afoumado, an expert Mansum, and Mina Cohn.
on the St. Louis, discussed her work at
the tracing services at the US Holocaust one another. vors. Two singe-marked tallitot that had
Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. On November 8, the Polish embassy been rescued from the ruins of a Berlin
Local children’s author, Kathy Clark, in cooperation with CHES, and the synagogue were on display, bearing
shared her experiences as the child of Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, witness to the horrors of Kristallnacht.
Holocaust survivors. Comments from hosted a lecture by Professor Dariusz The Arie Van Mansum Award for excel-
the audience indicated a strong desire Stola, Director of POLIN Museum. lence in teaching about the Holocaust
for more such events, and demonstrated Over 200 people attended this lecture
that Second Generation survivors appre- at the Polish embassy. Professor Stola
ciate the opportunities to connect with spoke about the new POLIN Museum
in Warsaw, discussing the location and
architecture of the museum, and the
role of the museum in reconnecting with
the ‘Great Forgotten Past’ of the Jews
in Poland. POLIN has been awarded
the title of “European Museum of the
Year 2016”, the most important museum
award in Europe.
On November 9, the anniversary of November 13 - From left standing in
the infamous Kristallnacht, the Night front, Judith Lermer Crawley, Berel
of Broken Glass, the official launch of Rodal, Mina Cohn,Cheryl Aroosi.
Holocaust Education Month took place Standing in the back are Kenjiro Monji
at Kehillat Beth Israel. The keynote Ambassador of Japan and his wife.
speaker for this near-capacity audience
was University of Toronto Professor in the classroom setting was awarded to
Emeritus, Michel Marrus, noted Educator Pascale Clavette who teaches
Canadian historian of the Holocaust. He Grade 8 at Ecole Gisele Lalonde.
stressed the importance of accurately On November 13, at the Kailish
teaching the facts of the Holocaust, Mital Theatre, Carleton University, a
November 9 - The Grumach Family the significance of remembrance, com- gripping dramatization, Decision: Visa
Tallit, rescued from a burning Berlin memoration, and of paying due attention for Life, about Japanese hero, Chiune
synagogue during Kristallnacht to the testimonies of Holocaust survi- Sugihara, was staged, in partnership
13 Newsletter of the Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies
Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship
with the Embassy of Japan. Sugihara well as the Carleton YouTube. The videos
was stationed as Vice-Consul in Kaunas, include 2-minute sound bites that can be
Lithuania, during World War II. Despite used in today’s educational settings.
the protestations of his government, On November 24, at Temple Israel,
Sugihara issued more than 6,000 tran- In keeping with our commitment to
sit visas to Lithuanian Jews desperate educating future generations about
to escape the grip of the Nazis. Setting the Holocaust, CHES hosted its first
the play in context, local resident Berel Teachers’ Workshop. The theme was the
Rodal vividly described how Sugihara Nuremberg of Hate and the Nuremberg
rescued his father. During the question- of Justice and commemorated 80 years
and-answer period following the pres- since the imposition of the Nuremberg
entation, two other children of survivors laws, and 70 years since the Nuremberg
present in the audience, explained how trials. The workshop opened with an
their families found refuge in Japan and address by the Hon. Irwin Cotler, former
later in Shanghai thanks to Sugihara’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General
November 16 - Mina Cohn present- efforts. One week later, the Japanese of Canada, and Chair of the Raoul
ing Cantor Kraus with a copy of his Embassy screened the movie, Persona Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.
testimony. Non Grata, a new Japanese movie Professor Cotler inspired the teachers
about Sugihara. More than 120 people and guests with his message on the les-
attended this event, sponsored by the sons of the Holocaust. Teachers from
Embassies of Japan, Israel, and Latvia. local school boards, Ashbury College,
On November 16, at Carleton the University of Ottawa Teachers’
University, participants and donors had Education Program, and Temple Israel
the opportunity to view a 30-minute Religious School practiced challenging
excerpt of the survivors’ interviews and enriching teaching activities de-
videotaped in the summer of 2016. This signed for the classroom environment.
viewing was the culmination of a ma- The teachers appreciated the quality
jor project accomplished by CHES: the of the handouts and were eager to im-
videotaping of the testimonials of ten plement these teaching strategies in
local Holocaust survivors. Those who their own classrooms. OCDSB teacher
participated include Elly Bollegraaf, Patrick Mascoe explained his outstand-
Tova Clark, Judy Young Drache, Jessica ing “Tolerance Initiative” program to
Fiksel, Vera Gara, Dr. Agnes Klein, the teachers. His former student, Sofia
Raoul Korngold, Cantor Moshe Kraus, Mirzayee, described how Mr. Mascoe’s
Kati Morrison, and David Moscovic. program affected her own life. Mr.
The ten half-hour testimonial films are Mascoe’s project involved pairing his
available on the CHES website as
CHES’ mandate is to offer year-
round educational programs and
activities in order to promote a
deeper understanding of the his-
tory and legacy of the Holocaust.
Its purpose is to combat prejudice
and racism and promote respect
for diversity, social justice and hu-
man rights. This objective is even
more critical in light of the recent
wave of hate crimes perpetrated in
the Ottawa area towards religious
November 24 - Teachers’ Workshop. institutions.
14 Newsletter of the Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies
Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Ceremony, January 27, 2017
same age as Anne Frank.
She recalled, to resounding
applause, that the Ontario
Legislature voted to reject
calls for BDS* and empha-
sized the importance of learn-
ing from history.
Catherine McKenna, Federal
Minister for the Environment,
brought greetings and a mes-
sage of solidarity from Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau. He
urged Canadians to deepen
their knowledge and under-
standing of the Holocaust in
order to ensure that such a
travesty never happens again.
As well, Ms. McKenna hailed
the importance of the video
testimonials of survivors
recently completed by CHES
and declared that forgetting
the dead would be akin to
Audience at the Commemoration of the Liberation of Auschwitz. killing them a second time.
She implored Canadians to
By Marion Silver, Secretary, Jim Watson. Mayor Watson affirmed take a stand against anti-Semitism, rac-
CHES Committee Ottawa as an open, welcoming, and in- ism and prejudice.
clusive city and warned of the dangers of Mina Cohn, Director of CHES, reiter-
racism and stereotyping. He referred to ated Cotler’s statement that although
O n January 27, 2017, a capacity
crowd filled Ottawa City Hall’s
Jean Piggott Hall, to commemorate the
the recent rally held at Machzikei Hadas
to underscore Ottawa’s determination to
combat intolerance and hatred.
Jews were murdered in Auschwitz, anti-
Semitism did not die there. Ms. Cohn
went on to explain the “We Remember”
72nd anniversary of the liberation of Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi campaign, the largest ever organized
Auschwitz. The Partnerships between opened his remarks with the sober commemoration on social media. She
CHES, the Centre for Israel and Jewish reminder that anti-Semitism still ex- encouraged everyone to post their pic-
Affairs (CIJA), the Jewish Federation ists, and that hatred of any one group ture holding the sign, “We Remember”,
of Ottawa, the Embassy of Israel, the is equivalent to hatred of all. He also on social media with the hashtag #We
Wallenberg Citation Initiative, and the highlighted the rally at Machzikei Remember.
Embassy of Romania, worked to create Hadas, noting that a peak moment oc- Israeli Embassy Representative Shlomit
this special event. The audience included curred when all the faith leaders present Sufa, explained that she grew up in Israel
Holocaust survivors as well as diplomats gathered together on the podium and hearing stories about the Holocaust and
representing many embassies, as well declared their commitment to work to- always wondered why nothing was done
as elected officials from the Municipal, gether to ensure a society of acceptance to stop it. She said that in the continuing
Provincial and Federal Governments. and respect for all. face of human suffering, we must com-
Master of Ceremonies Daniel Stringer Lisa McLeod MPP, Nepean-Carleton, mit ourselves to instilling the values of
called upon Cantor Pinchas Levinson to told the audience that she first learned tolerance and decency. The lessons of the
open the event with the singing of “Oh about the Holocaust by reading, The
Canada” and then, introduced Mayor Diary of Anne Frank, when she was the Continued on next page.
15 Newsletter of the Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies
Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship
Holocaust must include fighting bigotry
and racism in all its forms.
his fight on behalf of Soviet Jewry. He
insisted that we must remain united
CHES Committee
This year, Romania is the Chair of the
International Holocaust Remembrance
against hatred and indifference and
against nations that promote intoler-
Update
Alliance. Adrian Ligor, the Chargé ance and racism. He cited the sad fact CHES is pleased to welcome three
d’Affaires from the Romanian Embassy, that only 4,000 Jews were allowed into new members: Sheila Robertson,
said the Alliance is committed to re- Canada between 1938 and 1945. Muriel Korngold-Wexler and Gonen
search and increasing awareness of the Violinist Rlitsa Tcholokova entertained Sagy who all promise to enrich the
Holocaust. This is especially critical as the audience with two folk dances, one work of the committee. CHES com-
the rising tide of intolerance increases from Romania and one from Latvia. mittee members are a dedicated
the erosion of human rights. Strains of Klezmer heritage could be group of volunteers committed to
Keynote speaker David Kilgour ac- heard in these moving selections. safeguard the memory of the past
knowledged the presence of Vera and At the conclusion of the event, a and to educate future generations.
George Gara, Cantor Kraus, and Ottawa- photo of the audience holding up We The committee represents a broad
raised Canadian Jew Alex Polowin. The Remember signs was taken. range of professionals with educa-
latter was made a member of the French * Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions tional and community experience.
Légion d’Honneur for his service dur- (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement Membership on the CHES commit-
ing World War II. Mr. Kilgour quoted for freedom, justice and equality. tee is open to new members.
the late Elie Wiesel and illustrated BDS upholds the simple principle that To support CHES please visit
how he devoted his life to perpetuating Palestinians are entitled to the same carleton.ca/ches/donate-to-ches
the memory of the 6 million as well as rights as the rest of humanity.
Meet CHES Committee Member and Holocaust
Survivor Elly Bollegraaf
I f someone observed that I have led at
least a double life, if not more, they
would be correct. I have been splitting
work in areas I viewed as important. I
succeeded in this, in part by my own
choices, but also because of indirect
my time in various diverse and impor- forces that propelled me to take on in-
tant preoccupations, which I have per- creasingly demanding challenges. My
formed simultaneously. Science pulled lengthy career included analysis and re-
me in one direction, while social issues search in Microbiology, head of National
took me in another. Thus, I pursued and Salmonellosis Surveillance, and
managed to make myself as useful as Influenza Surveillance in Epidemiology,
I could in both. I wanted my life to be and eventually, as a Scientific Evaluator
meaningful and count for something of Medical Devices.
while on earth. It had to be that way. My involvement in Holocaust
That as a Jewish child in The Education and Remembrance was not
Netherlands I had escaped the clutches overshadowed by my career choices.
of the Nazis was a fact I was always This involvement started very early
aware of. My life had been preserved on because my conscience would not
by having been hidden by good people. let it be otherwise. I joined the Ottawa from 35 children about their survivor
I had escaped the annihilation that the Holocaust Remembrance Committee in parents. I have written numerous arti-
majority of my extended family had not. the early 1980’s and remained an active cles for the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin, on
This reality compelled me subconscious- member until mid-2015. I participated the Committee’s events and Holocaust-
ly to take on important and critical is- in all its endeavours. I produced the related subjects.
sues, to be useful to society, and to make Ottawa Holocaust Documentation Book, I organized the Ottawa Hidden
a difference to the world by my presence. which includes case histories of over 70 Children and Child Survivors Group,
Always intrigued by science, I pursued Holocaust Survivors living in Ottawa
an education that would permit me to and information on additional survivors Continued on next page.
16 Newsletter of the Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies
Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship
which provided members with a much- Holocaust (Shoah) alive. Future genera- and annihilation to happen to different
needed and gratifying opportunity to, tions must not forget the past, and by components of society, in Canada and
for the first time, open up about their studying past historical events, and by elsewhere.
war-time experiences. Their participa- continually reminding the public and It is my direct contact and personal
tion encouraged several to go public and scholars of the dangers of what went on knowledge of the Ottawa Holocaust
to speak at schools. before, society will have the educational Survivors’ community, the various
My becoming a member of CHES was background to react and to counter ob- teachers to whose classes I have spo-
a natural progression, as I felt that an vious and dangerous trends in society. ken, and my years of involvement on
even greater and concerted effort was This will hopefully prevent similar acts Holocaust Education, that are an impor-
required to keep the memory of the of discrimination, unfounded hatred, tant contribution to CHES.
The
Speakers
Bureau
Marion Silver,
CHES coordinator for
the Speakers Bureau
O ne of the goals of CHES is to ensure
the continuity of Holocaust educa-
tion through the active involvement of
Holocaust survivors and their descendants.
The Speakers Bureau is comprised
mainly of survivors and children of survi-
vors who visit educational institution by
invitation to speak about their personal or Kati Morrison visiting Immaculata High School
their parents’ Holocaust survival stories.
As a direct result of the teachers words. I learned a great deal from your parent newsletter and when it is sent out
Workshop CHES received two new presentation and shared stories from I will be sure to forward it.”
school invitations: St. Peter High School, your talk with many of my friends and Kati Morrison shared her experi-
and Immaculata High School. family over the holidays. I am very glad ence of her visit: “I used the USB of
CHES Committee member, Elly you enjoyed the small tokens of appre- my recorded testimony. It worked out
Bollegraaf, visited St. Peter’s High ciation from our school. Your talk made very well. I could follow the pictures
School and shared her story with over a tremendous impact on our students in my presentation and show the stu-
80 students and their two teachers as and I am very grateful that you took the dents a vignette from the testimony.
well as the principal. Elly Bollegraaf time. I hope to keep in touch!” Immaculata students were amazing.
lived in Holland, and was born The second visit, by Kati Morrison, was I got a package of questions ahead of
September 19, 1940, five months after to Immaculata High School time, as I had requested; they were very
the Nazis invaded, in May 1940. Beth Finn, teacher at Immaculata High thoughtful. The teachers prepared them
She shared her story of survival and School. noted, well. Beth Finn, the teacher of World
showed pictures of where she grew up, “My World Religion class had an in- Religion who invited me, asked me back
and of family members who did not sur- credible hour with Kati. They were both for her next class in the spring. It is up-
vive the Holocaust. very touched and grateful to her for lifting to see so many interested teach-
Following her visit Scott Searle twitted sharing her life’s story. My principal was ers and students who want to know
“Elly: Thanks so much for the kind going to write something for the online what happened.”
17 Newsletter of the Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies
Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship
Phase II Survivors’ Testimony Project
As part of phase II of the Survivor Testimony Project,
CHES continues to work on developing educational
resource materials that will benefit not only teachers
and historians but researchers of many disciplines and
will create a unique Ottawa base collection of Holocaust
testimonies. Additionally, as part of Phase II CHES is
editing an interview with the late Dr. Erwin Koranyi.
The longterm development of these materials as
education resources is of vital importance to honour
the remaining survivors, to give them a voice in our
community, and to combat anti-Semitism, racism and
to promote tolerance.
To support CHES and its many projects, please visit
http://carleton.ca/ches/donate-to-ches/
Join us on our virtual venture:
“Like” us on Facebook at Twitter: Follow us on Twitter
facebook.com/ @ZelikovitzC
ZelikovitzCentre Or, send an email to
jewish.studies@carleton.ca
Please share your Jewish Studies news about publications (articles and books),
events (on campus and in the community), courses, etc. The newsletter is pub-
lished every early fall with a supplement in early winter when warranted. Send your
information to jewish.studies@carleton.ca at any time and it will be included im-
mediately on our web site and in the next issue.
18 Newsletter of the Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies
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