Remembering the tragic human event of the Holocaust

Since 2005 people all over the world take the time to honour Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27. 

Belle Jarniewski is the Executive Director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada in Winnipeg, and she is also a member of Canada's delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. 

"This day was designated by the United Nations since 2005. The United Nations encourages all its members to commemorate this date and it was chosen because it was 76 years ago when the largest Nazi extermination centre, Auschwitz concentration camp, was liberated," says Jarniewski.

Roughly 1 million Jews were murdered in Auschwitz alone. Jarniewski's parents are both survivors of the holocaust. 

"Perhaps the most important thing is to ensure that we continue to educate this generation and the following generation in this tragic chapter in human history. I believe that this unprecedented attempt to annihilate an entire people everywhere is something that we must remember and learn from."

The Jewish people honour this event every spring and it's called Yom HaShoah. This year that date is April 8. 

The Jewish Heritage Centre offers education to the public and school students about the holocaust. 

"Pre-COVID times we would reach up to 3,000 students in any given year. We would provide professional development opportunities for educators. We have an annual holocaust and human rights symposium at the University of Winnipeg and in the morning we would present a holocaust survivor and another survivor of crimes against humanity in the afternoon to speak."

The Centre has partnered with the Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg for a few years to remember this day and they are hosting a virtual event this year. 

"Today the Canadian Museum for Human Rights will feature one of our survivors, Dr. Stefan Carter, who is a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto. He will be a major part of that presentation," says Jarniewski.

Recent studies have shown that when asked about the holocaust, quite a few teenagers had no idea what it meant. 

There are two places in Winnipeg that the public can go to to learn more about the tragedy that was the holocaust when one-third of the Jews on the earth were killed by the Nazis. Those two places are the Canadian Museum of Human Rights as well as the Holocaust Education Centre at the Jewish Heritage Centre.

In total, 6 million Jewish people died during the holocaust.