Mr. Speaker, this is Holocaust Education Week. As we remember all those who fought and sacrificed for our freedom from tyranny in World War II, we must not forget the lessons from that war.
Between 1941 and 1945, over six million Jews were systemically murdered in concentration camps in an effort to exterminate an entire people, but recent studies show that up to 22% of young Canadians do not know about the Holocaust. Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it. Even today, there are Holocaust deniers who continue to stoke the flames of anti-Semitism, hate and xenophobia.
We cannot take our democracy for granted. We must always be vigilant and call out hatred whenever we see it. We must teach our children about the Holocaust so such evil and darkness never again rises in our midst. We must remember. Only then can we say, “never again”.