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

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’.