Ottawa’s Jewish community glad to see Holocaust monument vandalism treated as hate crime
Posted Jan 30, 2020 09:30:00 PM.
The Jewish Federation of Ottawa is reassured to see the defacement of the National Holocaust Monument taken so seriously, as the Ottawa Police Service investigates the incident as a hate crime.
“It sends a message that this is not to be tolerated in our society,” explained federation president and CEO Andrea Freedman.
On Wednesday, someone pelted eggs at the memorial, which Freedman said is troubling,
“It's particularly horrifying that this took place two days after International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which also commemorated the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau,” she explained.
She said it added to the pain that community members and Holocaust survivors were already feeling, Thursday.
Roughly 1.1-million people were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau during World War II.
“It's not the first time our community has experienced anti-semitism, and while the defacement of the memorial is deeply troubling and offensive, our community is resilient.” Freedman explained.
She hopes that this incident can be used as an educational tool.
“We all have a responsibility to help people understand the horrors of the Holocaust so that it can never happen again.”
