{"id":6927,"date":"2014-08-29T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-29T07:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=6927"},"modified":"2014-08-28T10:19:24","modified_gmt":"2014-08-28T17:19:24","slug":"seeking-donors-for-auschwitz-birkenau-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/08\/29\/seeking-donors-for-auschwitz-birkenau-memorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeking donors for Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial"},"content":{"rendered":"

London, Ont.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What began as a last-minute visit to one of the most solemn places in history has grown into a nationwide campaign supported by many distinguished people and groups, including the Canadian and Polish ambassadors and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. Canadians Remember is a grassroots campaign relying on the goodwill of average Canadians to spread the word of the need for preservation and restoration at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland. The former German Nazi concentration camp \u2013 where more than 1.1 million Jews, Roma, Sinti, Poles, Russians and other Europeans were systematically killed during the Second World War \u2013 is reaching out for support of its Perpetual Fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince visiting Auschwitz, we\u2019ve learned that a remarkable number of connections to the camp exist in Canada,\u201d said campaign director Rob Carter. \u201cMany Canadian success stories began with the small number of people who survived the Holocaust.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"image<\/a>
Canadians Remember logo (CNW Group\/Seed Communications Inc.)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Funds raised by Canadians Remember will be presented to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation in 2015 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the camp\u2019s liberation. The foundation\u2019s director, Piotr Cywinski, endorses the Canadian campaign and has pledged to install permanent recognition at Auschwitz, listing Canadians as a \u201cPillar of Remembrance\u201d if the campaign can raise one million euro. All net funds raised go to the foundation\u2019s Perpetual Fund, created in 2009 to enable the redevelopment of the museum and the preservation of the historic facility. In 2012, Canada\u2019s federal government donated $400,000 to the fund. The Canadians Remember team hopes to raise $2.5 million, a figure in line with donations pledged by other countries, including Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States.<\/p>\n

Each year, many more than one million visitors from around the world arrive at Auschwitz-Birkenau to view the museum and memorial. The remains of the concentration camp stand today as a cemetery and as evidence of the horrors of which humanity is capable. The site is also a warning to future generations about the realities of the Holocaust, genocide and prejudice.<\/p>\n

In addition to Auschwitz survivors like George Brady (widely known from Hana\u2019s Suitcase, the story of his sister), the campaign\u2019s early supporters include Canada\u2019s Ambassador to Poland Alexandra Bugailiskis and Polish Ambassador to Canada Marcin Bosacki. \u201cWe believe that Canadians of all walks of life will recognize the importance of this initiative not only for Auschwitz, but its relevance in today\u2019s socio-political environment,\u201d said Bosacki.<\/p>\n

For only $1, donors can add a photo of themselves to the website\u2019s donor wall. By encouraging Canadian citizens \u2013 of all ages, religious affiliations and cultural backgrounds \u2013 to donate just $1 each, the Canadian public can make a gesture of remembrance and support for Holocaust education. Canadiansremember.ca<\/a> provides the details of the campaign, and accepts donations via PayPal.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Courtesy of Canadians Remember<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

London, Ont. What began as a last-minute visit to one of the most solemn places in history has grown into a nationwide campaign supported by many distinguished people and groups, including the Canadian and Polish ambassadors and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. Canadians Remember is a grassroots campaign relying on the goodwill of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1366,53],"class_list":["post-6927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national","tag-auschwitz-birkenau","tag-holocaust"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6927\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}