The International Holocaust Remembrance Day is commemorated annually around the world on January 27th.  This is the day when the world pauses to reflect upon the horrific loss of life that occurred during World War Two, when more than six million Jewish men, women, and children were systematically murdered by the Nazi Regime.

January 27th has been chosen as the day of remembrance because on this day in 1945 the Red Army liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration and death camp.

On January , five staff members of the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board attended, on behalf of the Board, the National Policy Conference on Holocaust Education, hosted by the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies.  The Board has a very strong partnership with this Center, and Director of Education Brian Beal was asked to light one of six candles at the opening ceremony, each candle symbolizing one million Jews who had been killed. The participants were honoured to meet several Holocaust survivors, including public speaker and renowned author Max Eisen, who is a survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Teacher Bill Bazinet (left), Max Eisen (middle), Brian Beal (right)

The staff, students and communities of the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board are committed to eliminating all examples of intolerance and hatred.  We are called to care for one another as part of one global human family.