This photograph was taken at the inauguration, of the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre, called the Montreal Holocaust Museum today. Held on September 9, 1979, the ceremony began with a commemorative march from the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue to the Museum located on Côte-Sainte-Catherine street.
Inauguration of the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre
Survivors Aba Beer (first from left), Tibor Weinberger (holding an urn), and Issie Veisfeld (first from right) are pictured in the first row. The urn contains ashes from the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Steven Cummings, a younger member of the Montreal Jewish community who played a central role in the founding of the Museum, is seen walking between Aba Beer and Tibor Weinberger.
Page from The Montreal Gazette announcing the march organized by the Association of Survivors of Nazi Oppression on September 9, 1979.
Survivors Aba Beer (first from left), Tibor Weinberger (holding an urn) and Issie Veisfeld (first from right) are pictured in the first row. Steven Cummings, a younger member of the Montreal Jewish community who played a central role in the founding of the Museum, is seen walking between Aba Beer and Tibor Weinberger. The urn Tibor holds contains ashes from the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. This urn was given to the Association of Survivors of Nazi Oppression, an organisation that played a key role in founding the Centre. It is now located in the Memorial Room of the Montreal Holocaust Museum, where visitors can reflect and remember the millions of victims murdered by the Nazis.
The Montreal Holocaust Museum: the only recognized Holocaust museum in Canada that tells the story of the Holocaust.
It was founded by a community of survivors who immigrated to Montreal after the war. Montreal welcomed approximately 10,000 Holocaust survivors, of whom nearly 4,000 are still living in the city. The Museum’s collection is largely made up of their testimonies and personal objects. Lou Zablow, also a survivor and founding member of the Museum, donated this photograph in 2003.
This project is part of the implementation of the Plan culturel numérique du Québec
