Mr. Speaker, this year marks the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps of World War II.
On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops were the first of the allies to liberate the death camps known as Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The Holocaust was a tragedy for the Jewish people that resulted in the suffering and death of at least 6 million Jews. Other innocent victims included the Roma people, Slavs, Soviet prisoners of war, the handicapped, Jehovah's Witnesses and homosexuals.
Sadly, since the Holocaust the world has failed to prevent genocide in Cambodia, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
It is my sincere hope that such events will never be allowed to happen again and that Canada will take its place in the international community to halt or prevent genocide in the future.