The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day:

“Eighty years ago today, the Auschwitz Birkenau German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp was liberated. Within its confines, over one million Jewish people had been barbarically murdered. As the largest camp under Hitler’s regime, it became one of the most important symbols of the Holocaust.

“Let me be unequivocally clear – the Holocaust was one of the darkest chapters of human history. The Nazi regime systemically and senselessly murdered six million Jewish people, accounting for two thirds of the Jewish population in Europe. They killed millions of others, including 500,000 Roma and Sinti peoples, political opponents, 2SLGBTQI+ people, and people with disabilities. They executed a genocide of unconscionable inhumanity and evil.

“The pain inflicted onto Holocaust survivors is still felt to this day. We can never bring back the six million Jewish lives lost during the Holocaust. We can never reunite the families torn apart forever. We can never finish the stories left incomplete. But we can remember. We can and must remind ourselves and each other of our obligation to stop this from ever happening again.

“Over the past 15 months, in the wake of Hamas’ horrifying attack against Israel and with the rise in antisemitism, Jewish people in Canada and across the world have felt unsafe in their communities, workplaces, and places of worship. This is unacceptable, and we are doubling down on our commitment to combat antisemitism and hate: With the Canada Community Security Program to enhance security at community spaces at risk of hate-motivated crimes. With new investments in Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2024-2028 and Canada’s Action Plan on Combatting Hate. With the efforts of our Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, Deborah Lyons, including the launch of the Canadian Handbook on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism last fall. With a National Forum on Combatting Antisemitism being held in March. And later today, we will be announcing a new set of projects funded under the National Holocaust Remembrance Program, with more to come, to help Canadians better understand the Holocaust and the ways antisemitism still affects us today.

“As social media and those who control its platforms seek to distort the horrors of the Holocaust and platform Holocaust denialism, it is now more important than ever to remember. To remember the hate and the cruelty. To remember, listen, and re-tell the stories of survivors while they’re still with us. To remember those who risked and gave their lives to save countless others. To remember our solemn vow: Never forget. Never again.”