Montreal marks Holocaust Remembrance Day amid antisemitism surge over past year

Montreal Gazette

24-04-2025

By
Montreal's Jewish community gathered Wednesday evening to mark Yom HaShoah, the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, with renewed urgency amid a resurgence of antisemitism across Montreal and Canada.
The solemn event, hosted by the Montreal Holocaust Museum at the Gelber Conference Centre, brought together survivors, descendants, political leaders and community members to honour the six million Jews slaughtered during the Holocaust and to reflect on disturbing parallels in the present.
Veronika Zwiebel Honigwachs, a Holocaust survivor who arrived in Montreal at the age of 14 after the war, delivered a stark warning about the current climate.
'It's very frightening,' she told The Gazette of rising antisemitism in the city. But she stressed the importance of remembrance gatherings like Wednesday's.
'We shouldn't forget what happened. And whatever happens to us happens to other people, too.'
Her remarks come as antisemitism has surged in Montreal and around the world following Hamas's attack on Israel — the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust — and the ongoing war that followed.
B'nai Brith Canada reports that 2024 saw the highest number of reported antisemitic incidents in Canada since the organization began tracking them. Quebec recorded the sharpest rise, with bullets fired at Jewish schools and Molotov cocktails hurled at synagogues among the most violent incidents.
The commemoration was the first in a series of events under Federation CJA's 'Remembrance to Celebration' campaign, which will also mark Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut, which are Israel's Memorial and Independence Days, respectively.
Jacques Saada, co-president of the Montreal Holocaust Museum's board of directors, drew a direct line between the atrocities of the past and recent acts of violence.
'One of the phrases we use is 'never again,'' he said. 'Unfortunately, on Oct. 7, 2023, it was the Holocaust all over again.'
Co-president Rachel Gropper underscored the weight of the ceremony.
'It is the commemorative day where we remember, respect, and reflect on the loss of our six million brethren,' she said. 'In my case, it's extended family that I never knew.'
Despite the sombre tone, both Gropper and Saada expressed hope for the future as they looked ahead to the museum's coming relocation and expansion to Saint-Laurent St, with construction expected to be completed in 2026.
'I want to be there with Jacques to cut the ribbon,' Gropper said.
Saada added: 'It's going to be a landmark for Montreal — not just for Jews or the Holocaust, but a historical landmark for the entire country.'
Wednesday's event featured candle-lighting by survivors, musical performances, and a keynote address by former minister of justice and attorney general, Irwin Cotler.
'We meet on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the most brutal extermination camp of the 20th century,' Cotler said.
'Montreal, I regret to say, it has emerged, along with Toronto, as the North American capitals of antisemitism — where synagogues and schools are firebombed and shot at, where Jewish institutions and storefronts are vandalized and assaulted, where Jewish students are shunned and stigmatized, where Jews, in a word, feel unsafe and insecure.'
He urged those in attendance to mark the day not only in remembrance, but in action. He said: 'Make it a 'Remembrance to act.''
Among those present was Anthony Housefather, the Liberal candidate for Mount Royal, who said the commemoration plays a critical role in educating future generations.
'Tonight, we honour the survivors who helped build the Montreal community,' he told The Gazette. 'But we also teach people what true evil is and how hatred against Jews spreads to other groups as well.'
He added: 'Having people gather to remember an event that happened — I mean, it ended 80 years ago — is very meaningful in the sense that the vast majority of people here weren't alive when the Holocaust happened, and yet they still took the time to come and honour the few survivors who are still with us. You've got some people who are over 100 years old here tonight. I think again, imparting history to the next generation is so important.'
Neil Oberman, the Conservative candidate for the same riding, echoed that concern, calling antisemitism 'a sickness of the mind and of the soul.'
'It's hate — hate for minorities, hate for people who are different,' he said. 'It's very easy to put everyone in one box, to say it's about the Jews or the Hindus or the Muslims. But it's really just hate, and hate has no limitations. So what have we learned? We've learned that hate is there. It needs to be controlled. It needs to be eradicated, but it also means that people in positions of power have to stand up and be heard.'
Côte-St-Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein spoke about the need to reinforce historical lessons.
'People have to learn the lessons in schools,' he told The Gazette. 'At all levels of government, education has to be paramount to teaching people that we have to not hate — we have to not hate based on race, religion or ethnic background. And the Jews, for some reason, have suffered this for so long, and there's not any real explanation.'
He added: 'We're all human beings, and we have to show empathy and love. ... Be kind, be good to others. We're not getting anywhere by having hate. We'll only get somewhere by having love.'