Halifax gets a Conscience
In August, I wrote about the St. Louis, a ship carrying Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis in 1939. Officials blocked …
A dark moment in Canadian history
By Trevor J. Adams | Aug 31, 2010
The Canadian Jewish Congress has announced that internationally-acclaimed architect and designer Daniel Libeskind is creating a new monument for Pier 21. The piece will memorialize Canada’s 1939 refusal of entry to the 900-plus Jewish refugees on board the St. Louis and the “none is too many” exclusionary anti-Jewish immigration policy that it epitomized. “We are absolutely thrilled about Daniel Libeskind’s participation,” says Congress president Mark Freiman. “His selection comes at the conclusion of an intensive jury process involving several world-class artists… There are important universal lessons to be drawn from the St. Louis incident about the importance for democratic societies of tolerance, understanding and respect for religious and cultural diversity.”
Libeskind aims to put the historical tragedy in a contemporary context. “The composition as a whole is inspired by the desperate plight of the Jewish refugees and their tragic destiny,” he says. “This work of memory will express the importance of eradicating the evils of hatred, racism, xenophobia and antisemitism. It is this particular story which is embedded in a dynamically moving memorial.”
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