Yom Hashoah marked at Chan

PAT JOHNSON

The haunting strains of the Mourners' Kaddish floated above the audience at the Chan Centre May 5, when Vancouverites gathered to mark Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The sombre occasion was especially poignant as it marked the 60th anniversary of liberation for many Holocaust survivors, including some on the stage that night. It is also the 10th anniversary of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, which is the sponsoring organization of the annual ceremony.

Because of the special year, this Yom Hashoah was marked for the first time at the University of British Columbia's majestic Chan Centre, with the evening's emotional and beautiful procession unfolding like a scripted performance under the guidance of professional artistic producers Wendy Bross Stuart, who also accompanied on piano, and her husband, Ron Stuart.

The traditional aspect of the annual event involved 12 survivors lighting six candles, representing the murdered Jews of Europe. Also following tradition, the Kaddish was sung and the "Partisan Song," a testament to the martyrs of the ghetto fighters of the Second World War, ended the moving evening.

But in between, several aspects unknown in previous Yom Hashoah events were introduced, including an original song written, performed and introduced by three generations of the Ehrlich family. David Ehrlich, a Holocaust survivor, introduced his granddaughter, Lisa, who sang "Remember," which was written by David's son (and Lisa's dad), Perry. Five grandchildren of survivors accompanied the singer, reinforcing, as was done on several occasions that night, the loss created not only by the Holocaust's direct victims, but the absence created by the lost potential of descendants who never were.

The Vancouver Jewish Men's Choir, joined by Chazzan Yaacov Orzech, sang traditional and religious songs, as well as leading the audience in the "Partisan Song."

Noted local Yiddish singer Claire Klein Osipov performed a number of wrenching traditional Yiddish tunes of lament, her voice reaching the heights of the Chan Centre's vaulted ceiling. A variety of spoken word readings – poems, excerpts, memorials – were read by Warren Kimmel, who also chanted the Kaddish and sang the tribute "On the Other Side of Nowhere."

The event, which was emceed by Ethel Kofsky, was attended by B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, who noted that the number of Jews the Nazis killed was equal to one-and-a-half times the population of this province.

"Imagine what those six million souls might have given to this world," said Campbell, who remained in the audience for the entire two-hour ceremony, which took him away from the campaign trail less than two weeks before election day. Vancouver city councillor and acting mayor Sam Sullivan represented the city. Prime Minister Paul Martin sent a letter, which was read by Bill Cunningham, a defeated Liberal candidate from the last federal election who is now an executive assistant to Sen. Jack Austin.

Pat Johnson is a B.C. journalist and commentator.

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