Holocaust memorial should be returned to its rightful home

2014/11/20 Leave a comment

Op-Ed by Bernie Farber and myself on the Daniel Libeskind memorial of Jewish refugees on the MS St. Louis not admitted to Canada prior to the outbreak of World War II:

The Wheel of Conscience serves as a reminder, in today’s troubled times, of the need for a more understanding and welcoming approach to refugees, whether we’re talking about the millions displaced in the Mideast or the refugee claimants fighting for health-care access here in Canada. And it serves as a reminder, too, of the terrible cost of the opposite approach.

Treating the Wheel as so much junk packed away in a dark warehouse for no one to see is a disgrace. Canadian Holocaust survivors have stated their desire to have the memorial at Pier 21 where it properly deserves to be.

It is time for the federal government under whose auspices Pier 21 operates to take action.

The Wheel of Conscience belongs at the gateway to Canada, where it can stand as a canary in the mine, a cry against inhumanity and intolerance. Let it no longer be a refugee, let it be granted its proper home.

http://t.thestar.com/#/article/opinion/commentary/2014/11/18/holocaust_memorial_should_be_returned_to_its_rightful_home.html

Filed under Antisemitism Tagged with , , , ,

Halifax monument to the ‘none is too many’ vessel looking for new home

2014/11/18 Leave a comment

More on the Libeskind Wheel of Conscience, ironically a refugee given the Canadian Museum of Immigration doesn’t want it:

But both [Museum CEO Marie] Chapman and Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said that despite the Libeskind design being chosen democratically by a selection committee, the museum location might never have been ideal.

They note the original space chosen to display it meant the back part of the monument — where the names of ship passengers are inscribed — was inaccessible to the public, that it has needed repairs more than once and that it had to be unplugged when it started producing a foul-smelling black substance.

“Where the process failed was in ensuring that some feasibility study was done about this kind of an exhibit, given the parameters or the constraints of the geographic location that it was proposed for,” Fogel said.

Fogel said possible locations include the newly opened Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg and the site of the future National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa.

Builder Darius Mosun, who said his company wants to be left out of the controversy, confirmed Monday the monument has been “continuously running up until now with no problems whatsoever” since it was repaired this summer and added that no one has come to inspect it.

Halifax monument to the ‘none is too many’ vessel looking for new home | Toronto Star.

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Holocaust survivors: ‘Shameful’ that Pier 21 not displaying memorial to victims of ‘voyage of the damned’

2014/11/15 1 Comment

One of the good projects funded by the Community Historical Recognition Program that I was involved with.

Sad that it is not being displayed (like everything Libeskind does, there is considerable complexity in the Wheel of Conscience and the mechanical difficulties are not necessarily surprising but were not anticipated at the time):

The Canadian government provided the Canadian Jewish Congress $500,000 for the memorial. The organization selected a design from world famous architect Daniel Libeskind, the child of holocaust survivors.

[Sydney) Zoltak was part of the group that selected Libeskind,

The memorial features an electric mechanism that spins wheels marked Hatred, Racism, Xenophobia and Antisemitism, which has had maintenance problems. After it was sent to the manufacturer, Soheil Mosun, in Toronto for repairs, the museum told the company to hang onto it while they decide what to do with it.

That process is ongoing, said Cailin MacDonald, a spokeswoman for the museum on Thursday.

“We are continuing to work with representatives from the Canadian Jewish Congress and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs to determine next steps,” she said.

Zoltak, who praised former immigration minister Jason Kenney for his role in establishing the memorial, said the government should ask the federally funded museum to display the memorial.

Holocaust survivors: ‘Shameful’ that Pier 21 not displaying memorial to victims of ‘voyage of the damned’.

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