Holocaust memorial plaque flap needs some context
When it came to light that the introductory plaque in the new National Holocaust Monument did not mention Jews or antiSemitism, the outcry and blame seemed wholly justified.
After all, hadn’t the Jews been overlooked in recent years in official statements of commemoration by governments in Ottawa and Washington? Didn’t this kind of omission reflect a trend of denial of Jewish suffering? Wasn’t this another example of “inclusiveness” in our multicultural land?
Surveying the landscape, it was easy to think so. “Canadian Holocaust Memorial Neglects to Mention Jews,” reported The New York Times. Its story was more nuanced but still incomplete. So were other media reports at home and abroad, where this story resonated.
Neil Macdonald, a seasoned commentator for CBC News, offered “a reasonable guess” on who chose the inscription. “The wording was almost certainly decided by a senior bureaucrat or even a minister who has absorbed the central ethos of the Trudeau government: make all public statements as anodyne, inoffensive and mushy — not to mention as uninformative — as possible.”
The Conservatives flew to the ramparts. “In Justin Trudeau’s Canada the new Holocaust Monument plaque doesn’t mention Jews, Anti-Semitism or the 6 Million,” tweeted Sen. Linda Frum. Her colleague, MP David Sweet, asked: “How could the prime minister permit such a glaring omission of reference to anti-Semitism and … that the millions of men, women and children who were murdered were overwhelmingly Jewish?” he admonished. “It is important to get history right.”
Sweet is right — at least about history. But he, Frum (who stands by her misleading allegation), Macdonald and news reports are wrong. What happened was a mix of misjudgment, carelessness and ineptitude.
Let’s unpack this. The first thing to recall is that Trudeau’s government did not mention Jews in a statement on the Holocaust in 2016. It paid tribute to “the memory of the millions of victims during the Holocaust.”
Four years earlier, Stephen Harper remembered “the million of men, women and children, who suffered, died and lost loved ones during one of the most heinous chapters in human history.” He did not mention six million and raised anti-Semitism only in the third paragraph.
Sweet and Frum were silent then.
More memorably, Donald Trump omitted Jews among “the victims, survivors and heroes of the Holocaust.” His former chief of staff stupidly defended this, though Trump was unequivocal on the Jews and the Holocaust in April.
The second thing to know is that the offensive plaque (now being corrected) is one of several at the memorial chronicling the Holocaust. It is blindingly clear that this is a Jewish monument (evoking the Star of David) commemorating this unspeakable Jewish tragedy. No honest visitor could conclude otherwise.
The problem with this plaque was its position alone at the entrance — introducing the memorial, evoking the murdered millions, honouring the survivors, urging vigilance against hatred.
Had it been placed among the others, the omission would have been less offensive.
The third thing to know is that the narrative was written by the Holocaust Memorial Committee (appointed by the Conservatives).
It was chaired by Rabbi Daniel Friedman of Edmonton and includes historian Doris Bergen, a leading authority on the Holocaust. Writing in Forward, the journal of Jewish affairs in New York, Bernie Farber and Mira Sucharov blame the committee more than the government. They’re right.
Yes, a statement posted over Trudeau’s name should have been noticed by his staff, who lack historical memory. Holocaust experts at the Canadian War Museum should have been consulted.
And the Department of Canadian Heritage, responsible for commemorations, should have caught this.
Ultimately, this is a shared embarrassment.
Rabbi Friedman and his committee should speak up and acknowledge their mistake. The Liberals should be more vigilant and the Conservatives should be less censorious.
And the media should work harder.