On the morning of Oct. 27, a lone gunman opened fire inside the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa., killing 11 people, and wounding six others. The gunman was motivated by hatred of Jewish people.
“I strongly condemn the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and other acts of hatred we have seen in recent months, south of the border and also in our own country,” said Bradford West Gwillimbury Coun. Raj Sandhu, chair of the BWG Diversity Action Group.
“I feel all leaders and society as a whole need to strongly speak against acts like this shooting, and work together to educate people so it does not happen again. My prayers and thoughts are with the victims.”
Sandhu was part of the town council that, prior to the municipal election, proclaimed the week of Nov. 1-8 as Holocaust Education Week in the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury — a time to honour the memory of the men, women and children who perished in the Holocaust, and recognize those who survived.
The Holocaust was Nazi Germany’s solution for dealing with the Jewish population, exterminating six million Jews in ghettos and concentration camps during the Second World War. The Nazis also targeted the Roma people, the physically and mentally disabled, the LGBTQ community, dissenters, Soviet prisoners of war, and others.
In Bradford, the BWG Diversity Action Group is marking Holocaust Education Week with a special event on Nov. 4 in the BWG Public Library’s Zima Room. At 2:30 p.m., the public is invited to a presentation of the testimony of Holocaust survivor Bill Glied — presented by his daughter, Michelle Glied-Goldstein.
“Bill Glied used to be an active speaker who shared his experience of the Holocaust,” said Diversity Action Group member Naomi Hoffenberg. “Bill passed away last year, and his daughter is keeping his story alive by presenting on his behalf.”
The presentation, titled Carrying Testimony from Generation to Generation, will combine recorded video of Glied, and personal commentary from his daughter.
“I believe this will be a new trend in Holocaust awareness — ‘second generation’ speakers,” said Hoffenberg.
With a rise in hate-motivated crimes, and the shooting in Pittsburgh, the presentation could not be more timely.
Statistics Canada has reported a steady increase in the number of hate crimes reported to police across the country since 2013.
In 2015, Statistics Canada identified that 17 per cent of the reported hate crimes in this country targeted members of the black community, 13 per cent targeted the Jewish community, and 12 per cent the Muslim community — with those numbers continuing to rise.
“I’m very proud of the work being done by the Diversity Action Group, where we encourage dialogue amongst our community but also celebrate different events such as Holocaust Education Week to bring awareness and knowledge to our community members,” said Sandhu.
As the Town of BWG’s proclamation stated: “History teaches us about the past and provides us all with the opportunity to change the future in positive and meaningful ways. The Holocaust teaches us an important lesson — that we must never repeat this very dark time in history, but rather strive to embrace peace, tolerance, understanding and harmony.”
The Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library is located at 425 Holland St. W. in Bradford. For more information, contact the BWG Diversity Action Group at [email protected].
