Premier David Eby has issued the following statement in recognition of Yom HaShoah:

“Tonight, at sundown, we will join Jewish communities in British Columbia and around the world in observing Yom HaShoah, a solemn day of remembrance for the six million innocent Jewish victims of a depraved ideology.

“The Holocaust, known as the Shoah in Hebrew, wiped out entire families and communities. Countless other Jews suffered in enforced ghettoes, concentration camps and death camps.

“The horrors of Nazism and fascist ideology also made victims of other innocents for their ethnicity, disability, sexual identity or political opposition to the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

“What humankind lost from this monstrous crime is unfathomable.

“The number of Holocaust survivors dwindles with each passing year. Today, nearly 80 years after the liberation of the camps, almost all the surviving witnesses were children at the time and went on to build lives from the horrors of the camps and ghettoes. Their stories must be heard and preserved for future generations to understand the enormity of this merciless atrocity.

“People reacted in horror last year when Israeli civilians were slaughtered in the deadliest act of violence against the Jewish people since the Shoah. Some taken hostage remain in captivity months later. In the wake of this attack, there has been a horrifying increase in antisemitic threats and acts of intimidation here in British Columbia and around the world.

“To help ensure everyone in our province feels safe from fear and harm, our government has launched a new anti-hate fund to protect synagogues, community centres and other places of gathering that have been targeted by graffiti and vandalism.

“As well, our government is making Holocaust education mandatory for all high school students in the province. Learning about the Holocaust fosters critical thinking, social responsibility and moral decision-making.

“On this day of painful reminiscence, we must renew our efforts in building a world free of racism, hatred and persecution. The lesson to be learned from a dark history is that the world must never be complacent in the face of evil. It should be our duty to ensure ‘never again’ is more than a phrase, but a pledge.”