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Arnold Reisman attends Toronto's Holocaust commemoration

TORONTO, October 24, 2010- The 30th anniversary of Holocaust Education Week will take place in Toronto and the surrounding region, from November 1 to November 9. This year more than 30,000 participants are expected to attend over 150 educational and cultural programmes. The central theme for 2010 is “We Who Survived.”

Toronto’s Annual Holocaust Education Week is a vast undertaking. It is regarded as the largest event of its kind in North America. The events, some of which are in French, Hebrew and Russian, take place in synagogues, churches, hospitals, universities, public libraries, seniors’ residences and in over 35 schools. About eighty volunteers, with the support of four staff members of Toronto’s Holocaust Education Centre, are responsible for the week....

One event is particularly worth attending, especially in view of the current sad state of political Israeli-Turkish relations. Dr. Arnold Reisman, noted authority on Turkey’s role during the Holocaust, will talk about the little known role played by the Muslim-born Turkish diplomat Behiç Erkin, Ambassador to France, as well as other courageous Turkish diplomats in France, who were instrumental in saving thousands of Jews from the Holocaust. Yet, as Reisman indicates in his new book “An Ambassador and a Mensch,” (seen here on the right) few have heard of their noble and often harrowing efforts. “They acted independently against the extant policy of Ankara, risking the wrath and ire of their own government as well as those of Germany and its puppet regime, Vichy France,” Reisman added. This event is scheduled for Sunday November 7 at 10:00 am....
Read entire article at Jewish Info News