A Government in Disgrace Still Playing to Its Preferred Audience

"Canada continues to be deeply concerned by the dire humanitarian situation in Syria. The Syrian peoples’ needs have reached unprecedented levels after 13 years of crisis, with over 16 million people, almost 70% of the country’s population, urgently requiring assistance."

"The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, accompanied by Omar Alghabra, Member of Parliament for Mississauga Centre, recently concluded a visit to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, where they met with government officials and representatives of organizations and partners to discuss international cooperation and humanitarian assistance, particularly in relation to Syria. Minister Hussen’s trip marks the first Canadian delegation to visit the border region of Türkiye and Syria since the end of the Assad regime in Syria."

"Minister Hussen reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to the people of Syria and announced $17.25 million in funding for humanitarian assistance to address their urgent needs. Canada’s funding will be delivered through experienced humanitarian partners and help provide clean water and food; protection services, including for the prevention and mitigation of and response to gender-based violence; sanitation and hygiene services; and health services."

"In Qatar, Minister Hussen and Mr. Alghabra met with Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al-Misnad, Qatar’s Minister of State for International Cooperation. Discussions focussed [sic] on Qatar’s role in assisting Syrians and on development cooperation between Canada and Qatar."

Global Affairs Canada news release

“The conflict in Syria has left millions of people in need of urgent aid. This funding will allow partners to provide them with critical support as the situation on the ground continues to evolve. Canada stands in solidarity with the people of Syria and those in neighbouring countries affected by this humanitarian crisis, and we will continue to work to address its impacts.”

- Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development

“This is a pivotal moment for Syria, the region and the world. After decades of oppression and conflict, the Syrian people are facing an opportunity to build an inclusive and prosperous society. Canada has always been a friend to the Syrian people, and we will continue to offer support to them so they can achieve their aspirations.”

- Omar Alghabra, Member of Parliament for Mississauga Centre

Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen has returned from a visit to Turkey's border with Syria, where he says Syrian refugees told him they are grateful for Canada's support. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

The Liberal government of Justin Trudeau is in a precarious governing position, heading toward electoral oblivion. Justin Trudeau's formal announcement that he is stepping down as prime minister of Canada and his follow-up tactics of remaining in power until March through prorogation of Parliament has placed Canada in a vulnerable situation where government authority is absent authority under these circumstances. Yet he and his minions continue to act unimpeded by their reality of a caretaker government unentitled to continue as though they hold a mandate to do so.

Canadians have made it clear that their disgust with this prime minister's behaviour and decision-making has made them anxious to see him depart, with his replacement waiting in the wings. An election is also waiting in the wings where the Conservative Party is prepared to take the reins of government at the behest of the Canadian electorate prepared to give Pierre Poilievre a clear majority government and consign the Liberal Party to fourth-place standing and unlikely to capture more than 6 seats in Parliament.

Despite the loathing of the Canadian electorate for the worst government that Canada has ever suffered under, one that has brought economic ruin to the country, divided east from west, fractured unity not only provincially but by ethnic origins, each in their distrusting and abused silos, with runaway crime going unabated, soaring deaths from contraband opioids, a failing health care system where it has become logical somehow to offer sufferers medical 'assistance' in suicide, and people requiring urgent medical care dying while waiting for vital surgery, nothing appears to have curtailed the arrogance of a prime minister who sneers at those he is meant to serve, who disagree with his policies.

That International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen and MP Omar Alghabra have just completed a formal delegation to Turkey and Syria in the wake of a transitional regime since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the butcher of Damascus whose 13-year sectarian war against his opposition citizens, where the new government is being led by an offshoot of al-Qaeda prepared to bring Sharia law to the country, is of little interest to Canada. Other than perhaps the 100,000 Syrian refugees the Trudeau government gave haven to. Millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey and throughout Europe are facing an enforced repatriation to Syria. No whisper of similar action in Canada.

$17.25 million in funding for humanitarian assistance; food, protection services, sanitation and health services, courtesy of the Canadian taxpayer has been given to Syria. Little different than offering millions to the Taliban in Afghanistan, which has taken up where it left off before the U.S. led NATO in a conflict to rescue Afghans from the Islamist talons of the Taliban and the capture of Osama bin Laden, after the tragedy of 9/11. Israel's 7/10 atrocities imposed by the Hamas terrorist group elicited a yawn from Trudeau and a ban on providing Israel with military gear in its invasion response of Gaza.

In Qatar the two Canadian Parliamentarians of Islamic heritage met with Qatar officials, as intermediaries in assisting Syria. Qatar, the friendly oil-rich state to the Taliban, and Hamas, whose funding of Hamas ensured it could assemble a military stockpile of deadly rocketry, hundreds of which have been aimed at Israel from the past to the present. Synchronizing with the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar has infiltrated its brand of jihad discretely and effectively throughout Europe and North America. Is this where Canada's interests lie?

Hussen announced that Canada stands in solidarity with the people of Syria and those in neighbouring countries; that 'his' government is prepared to continue work to address the impacts of conflicts roiling the Middle East. Unspoken is the absence of Israel's welfare in this current Canadian government's concerns over the situation in the Middle East; the very nation that has been continually attacked and forced to respond in kind, but whose responses fail to find favour or support within the hallowed halls of Parliament under this Liberal government.

While Europe and the United States remain concerned over the Islamist factions in partnership with al-Qaeda of those insurgents now governing Syria on an 'interim' basis, Canada appears to have no such troubling concerns under the Liberal government's 'watchful' eye, focused unerringly on the impression it is making on the large Canadian-Muslim population that has swelled in the past ten years, under Liberal/Trudeau governance.

Power & Politics hears from Syrian-Canadian MP Omar Alghabra on the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. CBC

Promoting A Universal Islamic Caliphate

"Hizb ut Tahrir Canada hereby announces, with regret, the cancellation of the Khilafah Conference 2025."

"This decision was necessitated by circumstances that were beyond our reasonable control."

"Hizb ut Tahrir categorically rejects the use of violence or material means in its methodology."

"The accusations linking the party to terrorism, extremism and violent activities are fabrications aimed at tarnishing its reputation."

Hizb ut Tahrir Facebook account

Inside Hizb ut Tahrir's  Khilafah Conference in 2023. Photo by Hizb ut Tahrir online promotion

"[Hizb ut-Tahrir's history of] glorifying violence and promoting antisemitism and extremist ideology and its support of terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah] are entirely contrary to Canadian values."

David McGuinty, Minister, Public Safety Canada

 

"[The conference and the organizing group is] extremist [and] radical [and would] jeopardize decades of progress made by Canadian Muslims in promoting inclusivity and dialogue."

"Its ideology not only threatens national unity but also isolates Muslim communities and endangers vulnerable youth."

The Global Imams Council

 

"This is important progress in keeping Canadians safe. We are relieved that this conference isn't  happening, but we also know that the fight against extremism cannot stop."

"We will continue to urge the government of Canada to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir as an illegal terrorist organization, as is the case in the U.K. and Germany."

Michelle Stock, vice-President, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs Canada

 

"This dangerous event, organized by an extremist group banned in 13 countries, sought to undermine the very values of tolerance, inclusion, and democracy that define Canada."

"Thanks to swift and decisive action, the voices of  hate and division will not find a platform here."

B'nai Brith Canada

 

"The Canadian government must take the necessary measures to list this organization as a terror group under Canadian law, ensuring that it will never again have the opportunity to propagate its vile, extremist ideology in our country."

Michael Levitt, president, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center

Members and supporters of the Islamist party Hizb Ut-Tahrir rally in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, in support of Palestinians and against Russian and US intervention in Syria, October 16 (credit: OMAR IBRAHIM / REUTERS)

The incident in question, that of a Canadian branch of an international Islamist group whose purpose it is to incite Muslims in the Western Islamic diaspora to take on the mantle of jihad for the purpose of infiltrating and dominating non-Muslim countries to effect a cultural-religious revolution in favour of Islamic conquest where as improbable as it might seem logically to the Western mind, the end result is the establishment of a worldwide Caliphate that would overrule all other religious faiths, cultures and laws through the primacy of Sharia law under Islamic rule.

The group speaks disparagingly of the 'colonialist' West and its deleterious impact on Islam, contrasted with its dedication to bringing world peace and security to all countries, unifying them under the banner of the one true religion, Islam. Its message also carries the impact of antisemitism, defining Jews throughout the world and Israel in particular, as a threat against peace and security in its designs to dominate everywhere, a irony of acute dimensions. 

 

The group is recognized for what it is in countries like Germany and the United Kingdom both of which banned its presence. By listing an entity as a terrorist group, its property can be seized or forfeited, its finances and assets become frozen and banks used for the group's finances cannot under the terrorism act in Canada dispose of or disperse its property. Anyone or any group that knowingly participates in or contributes to such a listed entity's activities commits a crime under the law.

The Canadian branch of this group had planned a conference and on its website, advertising for the conference plainly stated its purpose; to achieve a worldwide Caliphate and in the process destabilize and destroy Western and non-Muslim governments. The group's activities pose a security threat to Muslim-majority countries as well, most of which react to their agenda by banning them there, as well, as a threat to their ruling governments.

The Khilafah Conference 2025 promoted a revolutionary ideology that calls for overthrowing governments to replace them with a unitary, authoritarian Muslim Caliphate where everyone must live under strict Islamic Shariah law. Civic leaders and Jewish and Islamic groups, upon learning of the conference and its promoters took instant action reactively, reaching out to government agencies. The question is why would not Canada's intelligence agencies be ahead of the situation, in identifying the purpose of the group and bringing the threat of its agenda to the notice of the federal government, advising for action?

A letter had been sent to Public Safety Canada warning of the conference and the agenda of the organizing group as a threat, by the Global Imams Council, an independent NGO that adheres to mainstream Islamic teaching. Many Jewish advocacy and antisemitism groups also brought notice to the federal government of the conference and what it sought to advance, calling for it to be shut down, the group declared a terrorist entity.  

The Hizb ut Tahrir logo.

(photo credit: WIKIPEDIA)

Ancient Botanical Medicinals

"Before the Common Era, the plant is said to [have been] the size of a tree. But in the first century, the Roman historian Pliny the Elder described it as a shrub that resembled a grapevine."

"Why the time lag between the seed's germination and the publication of the research? The reason is I wanted to make sure that 'Sheba' wasn't the Judean balsam, which is something that I would only definitely know by smell."

"If Sheba is not the Judean balsam, it's a close cousin of it and one of the non-aromatic Commiphora that is a treasure chest of medicinal compounds."

Sarah Sallon, director, natural medicine research, Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem 

Dr. Sarah Sallon, director of the Louis Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, with 'Sheba' in 2010. (Guy Eisner)

 

During a excavation in the 1980s, a mysterious seed of unknown origin was discovered in a cave at Wadi el-Makkuk, in the northern Judean desert at a winter water channel. Four decades later, Dr. Sallon acquired the seed and determined that it was, after all that time, still viable. The seed was planted by Dr. Sallon's research team; it sprouted and was tended. The husk, carbon-dated to between A.D. 993 and A.D. 1202, had Dr. Sallon wondering if the resulting germinated plant could be the source of the balm of Gilead, and she named the specimen Sheba.

Sheba a few years ago (Guy Eisner)

In the years since, the thousand-year-old seedling grew into a sturdy three-and-a-half meter-tall tree. It is the only one of its kind in existence. The revival of that seed is described in detail through a study recently published in the journal Communications Biology, after  having been kept secret for 14 years previously. Sheba, as it happens, lacks a distinguishing fragrance and it is thought the plant is likelier to be the offspring of a different balm, also mentioned in Biblical scripture. 

As Sheba rose out of the soil, the shoot developed as a leafless, woody stalk. In time, the little tree developed pale, papery bark and yielded resin. Once foliage did develop, Dr. Sallon sent a leaf sample to Andrea Weeks, a botanist at George Mason University in Virginia. Dr. Weeks in turn, placed Sheba in the genus Commiphora a group of diverse flowering plants related to the frankincense and myrrh family, Burseraceae. 

Researchers conducted extensive genetic and chemical analyses as Sheba aged, yet failed to detect any aromatic compounds typical of other Commiphora species. Pentacyclic triperpenes, a compound with anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antiviral properties and high levels of squalene, a natural substance known for its antioxidant and skin-healing benefits, were detected in the plant's foliage. 

On the basis of those findings Dr. Sallon was led to propose that Sheba might be the source of tsori, a substance referred to in Genesis, Jeremiah and Ezekiel as a resin associated with healing and embalming and as an antidote to poisons -- not described as fragrant. Which led Dr. Sallon to the hyothesis that Sheba was used as rootstock and the balm of Gilead was grafted to it. Grafting causes rootstock-induced dwarfism.

Ancient seed before planting. Credit: Sallon, S. et al. Communications Biology (2024)

 

"Things get smaller when grafted. This would have been handy for the Judean farmers, as it is a lot easier to prune something small", explained Dr. Sallon.When we think of ancient settlements and cultures we imagine them to have been primitive. Yet they were anything but; sophisticated in their capacity to feel intrigued about the natural world that surrounded them, interested in exploring the uses of various vegetations, and discovering among them both edible and medicinal value.

The Queen of Sheba is documented to have set out on a biblical journey to Jerusalem in the 10th century B.C. Flavius Josephus, the Jewish-Roman historian. wrote a full millennium later, that she had brought with her the balm of Gilead, a highly prized resin, fragrant and known as Judean balsam, used as the base for perfumes, incense and medicinal remedies.

 

Researchers planted the ancient seed in 2010, over 20 years after its discovery in the Judean Desert. Credit: Sallon, S. et al. Communications Biology (2024)

Repatriating Syrian Refugees to Syria

"It is very uncomfortable."

"We are not some people who just arrived in Germany. We have lived here for ten to twelve years."

"We are part of the [German] society."

Sulaiman Abdullah, Syrian journalist/refugee 

"This is mentally devastating. It's difficult that after you set your mind to live here, build a new life here, learn the language and integrate in this country, you now have to return to your homeland where basic necessities are still missing."

"The fall of Assad is a huge joy for all Syrians, but we who came here and went into debt to finance this journey, every time we arrive in a new place, we have to start over again. It's difficult to think about returning to Syria now."

Hasan Alzagher, Syrian asylum seeker, Germany

Containers used as houses for refugees at former Berlin Tempelhof airport in Berlin. Germany has frozen the application process fo asylum seekers from Syria. EPA-EFE/Filip Singer

Syria's new government the head of which, Ahmad al-Sharaa of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, appears to have convinced some Western governments that his party is no longer affiliated with al-Qaeda, no longer a terrorist entity, but transformed to one that is dedicated to saving Syria from the failure it became under now-deposed Bashar al-Assad; that under his new direction for the country it will emerge an entirely different nation, one with room and respect for its minorities, one where the rule of law (Sharia law) will prevail, one that will no longer seek incursions into other countries' territories, nor wage conflict with neighbours.

 

The European countries to which displaced Syrians fled during the Syrian civil war when the Baath party led by the Alawite (Shi'ite) minority went to war under the Assad regime with its Sunni Syrian majority when Sunni discontent at being treated like second-class citizens convinced the regime it need not negotiate when violent repression was an option of choice, are viewing the downfall of the Assad regime with relief, believing that now is the time to return the refugees to their homeland.

 

Syrians who fled the civil war that ravaged their communities are now facing the prospect of the countries where they settled in Europe are prepared to wave them adieu, and they are anything but pleased at the turn of events. Germany alone holds 1.3 million Syrian refugees, while Turkey had given haven to multiple millions and soon became restive under the burden of harbouring them at huge economic cost. Turkey, in fact, did not wait for Assad's departure before returning tens of thousands of those it sheltered to Syria.

 

In Europe, many of the refugees ran afoul of the law and cultural/social mores ... and posed a threat to women and other minorities. Conservative elements within Europe, along with some mainstream politicians discussed the feasibility of chartering planes to Syria to return their Syrian refugees as soon as Assad departed Syria. They were willing to pay each refugee $1,000 euros as a bonus if they agreed to leave. Denmark has offered a $20,000 euro repatriation package to any Syrian residing in Denmark as an incentive to leave.

The asylum status of Syrian refugees in Germany has not yet been reviewed, with the European Union cautioning its members not to rush in deporting people, in that the peace now prevailing in Syria is preliminary and it remains to be seen what may occur yet in the near future, as the country grapples with its newfound freedom, and whether the euphoria over Assad's departure is pasted over the actual presence of yet another oppressive regime temporarily posing as the country's saviour.

 

A protest outside the Danish Embassy in Dublin in June 2021 in support of Syrians who were deported from Denmark back to Syria [Getty]

 

The situation is now such that many of those refugees who settled across Europe have become uneasily apprehensive of their future. In Germany the presence of Syrians is that of the largest refugee population. One that has become an integral part of the country's workforce, some operating their own businesses. They labour in the service sector or as drivers, delivery people or warehouse workers.

In addition, a significant number of Syrians are in the professions of medicine and health care. Leaving German officials to warn that dire consequences could ensue for the German health care sector should they lose the medical specialists of Syrian origins operating within a strained German health care system. Syrians who are now comfortable with the language and the lives they have established in Germany are alarmed at how swiftly their status in Europe is now being questioned.

Getty Images

"One Dies and Ten More Addicts are Born ... We Don't Worry About Them"

"You inject this into a hen, and if it takes between a minute and a minute and a half to die, that means it came out really good."

"If it doesn't die or takes too long to die, we'll add xylazine."

Fentanyl cook 

"The illicit market gets much more benefit from its substances by cutting them with different things such as xylazine."

"You enhance it and therefore need less product, and you get more profit."

Alexiz Bojorge Estrada, deputy director, Mexico mental health and addiction commission

Mexico’s government on Dec. 3 announced the largest-ever seizure of fentanyl in Sinaloa state. The Sinaloa Cartel has been split by warring factions, but production continues. Omar H. Garcia Harfuch/Handout  via REUTERS

 

Cartel laboratories in Mexico are where the synthetic opioids that reach North American markets derive from. Those who are called 'cooks' mix chemicals to the point where they are felt to be acceptable for the street market; precision is not a prime consideration, whereas the cartel knows that the products that provide a big hit are; dangerous but totally effective, as far as the end-users are concerned and this is where their profits lie. 

Those who spend their time mixing chemicals in rudimentary cook sites, by default expose themselves to toxic substances, so much so that on occasion some cooks end up retching, then they pass out and occasionally die. University chemistry students are being recruited by the cartels to work as cooks. One of these students spoke to an undercover investigator revealing that drug users living on the street are sometimes brought in to test their formulas.

 

New York Times

 

Injecting them as guinea pigs with the synthetic opioid. "We've had people convulse, or start foaming at the mouth", the student said. No one has yet died in her experience she said, but bad batches have been responsible for bad outcomes. 

In Culiacan, Mexico, cartel operatives visit  homeless encampments, bringing with them syringes filled with the latest fentanyl formula, offering to pay those living at such camps up to $30, to those agreeable to allowing the experimental batches to be injected into them. There are times the operatives visit daily to watch as the drugs take effect; snapping photos and filming reactions to the drugs.

"When it's really strong, it knocks you out or kills you. The people here died", explained one of the homeless men who had volunteered himself repeatedly. The chemicals required to produce the opioid have become more difficult to access as a result of efforts to crack down on the synthetic opioid. Originally sourced from China, exports of the raw ingredients have now been restricted, leading the cartels to these risky new methods of maintaining production of fentanyl.

 

A member of the Mexican navy and a canine sentry patrol Mexico’s Port of Manzanillo last year. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

 

This type of experimentation involves the drug being combined with a wide range of additives -- including animal sedatives and other anesthetics that can be dangerous. Testing the results they come up with involves injecting these mixtures into animals like rabbits and chickens, as well as human subjects willing to lend themselves as guinea pigs. According to a number of cooks, should the rabbits survive beyond 90 seconds, the drug is considered to be too mild for the American market. 

 

The U.S. government places the blame on fueling a synthetic opioid on the Sinaloa Cartel. According to one cook's explanation, he began recently mixing fentanyl with an oral surgery anesthetic. Another cook using a cartel safe house in Sinaloa State explained that if the batch was too insipid, he would add xylazine, an animal tranquilizer.

According to cartel members, drug users and experts, many users in North America look to access a particularly deadly batch they know will get them high. "One dies, and ten more addicts are born", one operative for the cartel said: "We don't worry about them".

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at the National Palace in Mexico City last month with a letter destined for Donald Trump. The U.S. president-elect has threatened steep tariffs if Mexico fails to stem a tide of drugs and migrants flowing north. Carlos Ramos Mamahua/Presidencia de Mexico/Handout via REUTERS

Nicolas Maduro: "I Come From The People"

"[Venezuela sets a] dangerous precedent [for democracies in the hemisphere]."

"[Showing that] in the 21st century, an important country in Latin America can disregard the will and sovereignty of the people and remain in a de facto government."

Carolina Jimenez Sandoval, president, Washington Office on Latin America 

"Maduro has violated the Constitution, and the sovereign will of Venezuelans expressed on July 28." "He carried out a coup d’état and crowned himself a dictator."

Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González, in exile in Spain

"[With his inauguration] they decided to cross the red line [and] they stomp on our constitution."

"Today, Maduro did not put the presidential band on his chest, he put it on his ankle like a shackle that would tighten more every day."

Fellow opposition leader Maria Corina Machado

Nicolas Maduro on the day of his inauguration for a third six-year term at a military academy in Caracas, Venezuela on January 10.   Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters

The 'man of the people' who claims he represents the will of the ordinary Venezuelan in reclaiming the presidency of the country for a third six-year term Friday, is prepared to continue the authoritarian rule that he and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, imposed upon Venezuela, ruining its democratic nature, its economy, devastating its society, all the while claiming that their version of governance is what the people of Venezuela demanded of them, and continue to. Venezuelans who are so happy with their lot under this government that they've departed in massive numbers to find refuge elsewhere from the ruinous governance that has devastated their country.

The United States, along with a number of other countries, rejected the claim that the latest election was handily won by the sitting president, recognizing opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the true president-elect of Venezuela. Without so much as providing evidence of having won this latest sham of an election, Maduro claimed electoral victory. This election was a replay of previously fraudulent elections in the country. But for the first time the opposition was able to provide evidence of its own claim to victory.

Opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez was forced by Maduro to go into exile. Currently, there is no indication that it would be safe for him to return to Venezuela, much less take up his duly elected position as the country's new president. Maduro's government has threatened, should he return, to detain him, having issued a $200,000 reward for his arrest. During the months leading up to the election the military aided Maduro's campaign of fear and repression. Over 1,700 political figures were arrested and remain prisoners.

Maria Corina Machado, just prior to Maduro's inauguration to a new six-year term, revealed that she had been detained briefly by "the repressive forces of the regime", upon leaving an opposition rally in Caracas. Observers spoke of the election as representing the largest electoral fraud in recent Latin American history where voting centre receipts collected by the opposition and verified by the Washington Post along with independent election observers indicate clearly that Gonzalez likely beat Maduro in a landslide.

Gonzalez vows he will return to Venezuela. The Biden administration announced it plans to continue to place pressure on the Maduro government with new sanctions and other allied measures. The bounty offered for information leading to Maduro's arrest and conviction for U.S. indictments on conspiracy and narcotics charges increased from its current $15 million to $25 million. 

 

"I come from the people. The power I represent belongs to the people and I owe it to the people", Maduro said during his third-term inauguration.

Anti-government demonstrators shout slogans as supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ride past on motorcycles during an opposition protest on the eve of Maduro's inauguration, in Caracas on Thursday.   Pedro Mattey/AFP/Getty Images

"Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away"

"I had no idea where we were. It was unreal and beyond my imagination."

"After being tattooed [133628] and inducted as a prisoner and losing my identity, I thought this was hell on Earth, from which I had little or no hope of getting out. I was in total despair."

"Only my father's presence gave me some hope."

Nate Leipciger, 96, from Sosnowiec, Poland

 

"[The artifacts, augmented by survivors' recorded testimonies], are the traces of genocide, the remnants of a murdered people, and the material evidence of crimes against humanity."

"They are what remain despite the perpetrators' attempts to conceal their crimes."

Paul Salmon, curator, exhibit catalogue, "Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away" 

 

"It's not easy to go to a museum to learn about the particular story of Auschwitz, but sometimes the things that are more difficult are the ones that are more necessary."

"We knocked on many doors. I never got no for an answer."

 Luis Ferreiro, director, Musealia, Spain

 

"[The Royal Ontario Museum's mission is] to help people understand the past, make sense of the present, and come together to shape a shared future."

"[With the Auschwitz exhibit], we could not imagine an exhibition that more materially fulfilled our mission."

"[There is a deliberate attempt to avoid] gratuitous depictions of violence." 

Josh Basseches, museum director and CEO, ROM

Jews from Lubny, Ukraine, shortly before their murder by an Einsatzgruppe, 1941. This photo is one of the items in the exhibit Auschwitz: Not long ago. Not far away. Photo by Musealia

In 2008, Luis Ferreiro, director of his family's Spanish company Musealia, in mourning after the death of his 26-year-old bother, read psychotherapist and philosopher Viktor Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning. It gave him comfort. Viktor Frankl was a survivor of Auschwitz. It was there that his pregnant wife, parents and his brother perished in Nazi Germany's campaign to extinguish all Jewish life in Europe. The book's story of survival and finding purpose in life despite the worst possible circumstances, resonated with Mr. Ferreiro.

Although not a Jew, he took inspiration from the writer's message and decided to pursue "a moral necessity to do something. It was always about Auschwitz for me". He collaborated with the Auschwitz Museum and spent time tracking down other potential involvement in a long but rewarding process to showcase human survival in the most obscene, inhumane period of modern human history. His decision to dedicate himself to this project gave purpose to his own life, through his grief.

 

The end product of his research and organizing of an exhibit to feature the Auschwitz death camp during the years of the Holocaust, in the Second World War, opened in 2017 in Madrid. Since then the exhibit has toured in New York, Kansas City the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Malmo, Sweden, and Boston. Between 1.4 and 2 million people have viewed the exhibit, according to Mr. Ferreiro's estimation. During his search for collaborators for his project, Mr. Ferreiro discovered Robert Jan van Pelt, professor at the University of Waterloo, among the world's leading experts on Auschwitz, who became the exhibit's chief curator.

At Birkenau, the largest of the nearly fifty sub-camps collectively known as Auschwitz, 96-year-old Toronto resident, Nate Leipciger, Holocaust survivor, who has over the years dedicated himself to educating the public about the Holocaust, had lost his mother and sister, murdered along with eight other members of his extended family. Their lives were taken in the gas chambers of Birkenau.

Of the Nazi death camps scattered throughout Europe, Auschwitz was the largest, most notorious and deadliest. At liberation, photographs of skeletal inmates in striped uniforms and dazed eyes, many too weak to rise from their serried bunks, were  seen worldwide as examples of the Nazi atrocities perpetrated against Europe's Jews in the slaughter of six million of Europe's Jewish communities. 

Details like crammed boxcars, crematoria, belching chimneys of human ash, barbed wire enclosures, a gate whose legend read "Arbeit Macht Frei" have become symbolic of the Holocaust. 1.3 million people were deported to Auschwitz in the four years of 1940 to 1944; 1.1 million were Jews. 900,000 were gassed soon after their arrival in packed rail boxcars. Others were used for slave labour until they died of exhaustion and malnutrition. Some 75,000 non-Jewish Poles, 21,000 Roma, 14,000 Soviet prisoners of war and up to 15,000 of other categories including criminals, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and "undesirables", were also murdered there.

On January 10, preceding the 80th anniversary of the camp's liberation on January 27 (annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day), the exhibit will open at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Over 500 original artifacts, along with hundreds of photographs, charts, drawings, correspondence and diagrams will be shown at the exhibit, most of them on loan from the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, and from over 20 other institutions.

Among many other items are receptacles that once contained Zyklon B pellets. Belongings of newly-arrived prisoners of the time, are heaped within a large glass case, comprised of everyday common personal items such as shaving material, perfume bottles, eyeglasses, hair brushes, bowls and buttons. Personal property items of the victims were in such abundance they were stored within 30 barracks, referred to as "Kanada", a country imagined to be brimful of wealth.

 

During the Holocaust an estimated 1.5 million Jewish children were murdered or died of deprivation. At a time of steeply rising antisemitism all over the world, a time when knowledge of the Holocaust is fading, the exhibit strives to reawaken a disinterested world's memory and conscience. The exhibit will be on display until September 1. The ROM is its only Canadian destination. The museum has suspended an admission charge for Grades 6 - 12 students in organized school visits.