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Yom HaShoah Program Recap
Temple Sinai hosted a Yom HaShoah program on Sunday, June 23rd, featuring special guests Max Beer and Deena Dlusy-Apel, educators and oral historians from Montreal.
Cantor Mark Leopold opened the program with reflections on the importance of remembering the atrocities committed against the Jewish people, as well as recalling the Jewish Resistance during World War II and remembering and honoring those who perished in the Holocaust and those who survived. Several people came forward to light six memorial candles, each representing one million lives that were lost. The congregation then stood to recite the Mourners' Kaddish.
The documentary film Nobody was Interested. Nobody Asked: The Holocaust, the Montreal Jewish Community and the Survivors was then shown. Produced and directed by Max Beer and narrated by Deena Dlusy-Apel, the film centers on the experiences of Holocaust survivors who came to Montreal as refugees shortly after the war. Interviews with survivors, as well as with members of Montreal's established Jewish community, reveal that despite the good intentions of the people and organizations who sought to help, adjusting to a new life in Canada proved to be an especially difficult and time-consuming process. Many refugees were deeply affected by their traumatic experiences during and after the war, and their problems were not widely discussed or treated. Some Montrealers felt they had little in common with the newcomers. The film also documents that Jews in Quebec faced considerable anti-Semitism at that time, regardless of whether they were new arrivals or longstanding residents.
In a question and discussion period, a number of audience members shared their own recollections of relatives who were resettled in North America after the Holocaust, and who encountered adjustment problems similar to those documented in the film. Several people expressed high praise for the film, and commended Max and Deena for their courage and perseverance in conducting the interviews and making the film available. It was noted that their film has relevance for people who are currently involved in resettling refugees from conflicts in other countries. Discussion continued over lunch in the social hall.
This Yom HaShoah program was organized by the Adult Education Committee of Temple Sinai. The committee thanks Max Beer and Deena Dlusy-Apel for sharing their unique and important film with us, and extends appreciation to all those who helped make Yom HaShoah program a success, as well as to everyone who attended.
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