Preamble

WHEREAS the Holocaust refers to a specific event in history, namely, the deliberate and planned state-sponsored persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by the Nazis and their collaborators between 1933 and 1945;

WHEREAS six million Jewish men, women and children perished under this policy of hatred and genocide;

WHEREAS millions of others were victims of that policy because of their physical or mental disabilities, race, religion or sexual orientation;

WHEREAS the terrible destruction and pain of the Holocaust must never be forgotten;

WHEREAS systematic violence, genocide, persecution, racism and hatred continue to occur throughout the world;

WHEREAS the Parliament of Canada is committed to using legislation, education and example to protect Canadians from violence, racism and hatred and to stopping those who foster or commit crimes of violence, racism and hatred;

AND WHEREAS Yom ha-Shoah or the Day of the Holocaust, as determined in each year by the Jewish lunar calendar, is an opportune day to reflect on and educate about the enduring lessons of the Holocaust and to reaffirm a commitment to uphold human rights;