For International Holocaust Remembrance Day at Congregation Habonim of Toronto Jan. 24, 2020
Congregation Habonim 5 Glen Park Avenue, Toronto, CanadaOn the eve of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, journalist and author Ellin Bessner will bring the story of the Canadian Jewish military personnel who fought for Canada in WWII, helped defeat Hitler, and rescued the survivors of the Holocaust. Bessner's new book "Double Threat", published by the University of Toronto, tells the story of these 17,000 Canadians of Jewish faith who were serving not only for King and Country, but also on a sacred mission to try to save the Jewish people of Europe. They faced great personal risk, and tremendous antisemitism at home, and on the battlefield. As the world marks the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, Ellin will speak about the Jewish Canadian private from Montreal who arrest the “Beast of Belsen”, and the Jewish airman from Toronto who took the Belsen orphans on picnics, as well the lasting impact on the mental health of these Canadian soldiers after their encounters with Hitler’s Final Solution.