Our Mandate The Holocaust Centre of Toronto is dedicated to the memory of the six million Jews who were murdered during 12 years of Nazi tyranny in Europe, 1933-1945. It is a testimony to the vanished European Jewish communities, the Jewish resistance fighters and the Righteous Among the Nations, those who did not stand by in silence. The Centre also presents a panorama of Jewish life in pre-Nazi Europe.
It is our responsibility to protect and entrench the memory of the past and to warn against racial intolerance and apathy which allowed the Holocaust to happen.
It is our responsibility to educate the community at large to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust will be learned.
The Centre's remembrance and educational programs include:
Daily visits to the Museum by schools in the GTA Curriculum development for students and teachers Staff development workshops for teachers Ontario Provincial Holocaust Arts / Writing Contest Annual Senior Student Seminar Day on the Holocaust Seminars for clergy and community leaders Research Resource Library Interactive website Permanent and visiting exhibits
The Centre sponsors community programs throughout the year, including:
Annual Holocaust Education Week Lectures Docent-guided tours Child Survivors/Hidden Children Memoir-writing workshops Yom Hashoah annual community-wide observance Conferences Interfaith dialogue Second and Third Generation - children and grandchildren of survivors Memorial Tiles Project
Our knowledgeable speakers lead workshops and discussions on:
Personal testimonies Resistance Holocaust denial Righteous Gentiles Second Generation issues March of the Living Jewish life and culture before the Holocaust Other genocides
Our purpose is to preserve the memory of those who perished and to educate the larger community so that the Holocaust will serve as a warning of the dangers of ongoing racism and intolerance. With the new millennium comes the realization that the terrible events we are commemorating took place in a previous century. With the passing of eyewitnesses, it becomes all the more important to keep their voices strong, to preserve their stories and pay tribute to their courage, as well as to continue to find compelling ways to teach the Holocaust. Such positive acts of recollection are an act of faith, an affirmation of life and a testament to the human spirit. It is in the ways in which we pay tribute to memory that we truly define ourselves, for it is in forgetfulness and indifference that hate and destruction triumph.
As custodians of memory, we must dedicate ourselves to preserving the past and educating future generations. Only through education and remembrance can we safeguard the lessons of the Holocaust, for it is clear that they have not yet been learned.
Daily visits to the Museum by schools in the GTA 