Antiracist History & Theory

"Canadianizing the Holocaust: Debating Canada's National Holocaust Monument"

Ajay B

Factsheet

Description

This factsheet distills Jason Chalmers’ article on Canada’s holocaust monument, erected in Ottawa in 2017, which Chalmers believes is an attempt to Canadianize the holocaust. By this, it serves to universalize the holocaust and contrast it with Canada’s history as being inclusive, tolerant and multicultural. This severe violation of human rights is positioned as the antithesis to Canadian identity.

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References

  • Chalmers, Jason.“Canadianising the Holocaust: Debating Canada’s National Holocaust Monument.” Canadian Jewish Studies 24, (2016): 149-165. doi:10.25071/1916-0925.39964.

  • Sheftel, Anna, and Zembrzycki, Stacey. "'We Started Over Again, We Were Young': Postwar Social Worlds of Childhood Holocaust Survivors in Montreal." In The Age of Light, Soap and Water: Moral Reform in English Canada 1885-1925, (2008): 104-128. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Keywords

Antisemitic Discourse, Antisemitism, Canada's National Holocaust Monument, Canada's Self Image, Canadian Antisemitism, Canadian Heroism, Canadian Memory of the Holocaust, Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Canadian National Narrative, Canadianising, Child Holocaust Survivors, Conflicting Narratives, Cultural Context, Erasing Marginal Memories, Haven of Canada, Hero and Villain, Hierarchy of Suffering, Historical Complicity, Historical Failures, Historical Narratives, History of Antisemitism, Holocaust, Holocaust Denialism, Holocaust survivors, Holocaust Victims, Human Rights violation, Indigenous Peoples, Jewish Canadians, Jewish Refugees, Jewish Settlers to Canada, Liberating Europe, Marginalization of Oppressed Groups, marginalized communities, Memorial, Memorialization, Monuments, Moral Narrative, Ottawa, Overwrite Historical Failures, Plural Meanings, Politics of Memorialization, Redeem, Second World war, Social Process, Survivor-centred, Systematic Persecution, Universal Symbol, WWII