Also known by such names as Freedom Day and Jubilee Day, Juneteenth is a celebration of the end of slavery after the end of the American Civil War.
source: amny.com
Juneteenth has grown to be a day that is observed in the US and around the world, as it symbolizes not only the fight against the evil that is slavery, but also the fight against racism in all its forms. Slavery finally came to end in the US in 1865, but racism lies at the heart of so many of the evils that still haunt the United States, Canada, and indeed, humanity. Current issues such as Black Lives Matter, Critical Race Theory, are all just part of the ongoing and centuries old struggle against racism.
NASA presents a live discussion of the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Task Force, at 7:30 PDT, on NASA TV. UAPs, are also known in popular culture as UFOs.
May 3rd is World Press Freedom Day, as established by UNESCO / United Nations. The freedom of the press is essential to the establishment and health of democracy. In our world of social media, misinformation, disinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories, more than ever we need a free, independent, professional and ethical press.
Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, is the day that Jews around the world remember the six million who perished in the Holocaust. In Israel it is a national day of observance known officially as Yom Hazikaron laShoah ve-laG’vurah, in English “Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day.” In addition to remembrance of the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust, the day is also used to celebrate acts of resistance and heroism on the part of survivors and allies.
This year Yom HaShoah begins on the evening of April 17 and continues until sundown on April 18.
Valley2city, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Find out more about the Holocaust, the systematic mass-murder of more than 6 million Jews, and other groups, targeted by the Nazis and their allies:
Do you believe that you should be able to choose what you read? Or should other people be able to decide for you what you can read? Freedom to Read Week celebrates our fundamental freedoms as citizens of democracies and our fundamental rights as human beings. Freedom to Read Week also asks to to beware of the forces at work which erode and seek to destroy your rights and freedoms.
This isn’t just happening in authoritarian states such as North Korea, Iran, China or Russia. This is happening in the so-called free world. This is happening in the United States. So far it hasn’t been as bad in Canada, but challenges are growing here and there are too many who want American censorship to come to Canada.
January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Join with us as we take this day to remember the many millions who died during the Holocaust, to learn more about what happened, and resolve to fight against anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of hate and violent oppression.
The term “Holocaust” refers to the period in history in which the Nazi regime of Germany murdered over 6 million Jews, as well as millions of other victims, including Roma, homosexuals, people with physical and mental disabilities, and more. The Nazi persecution of the Jews began in the early 1930’s and reached its most horrific and brutal peak during the period of 1941-1945, as the Nazis adopted as official policy the “Final Solution,” the attempt at completely annihilating the entire Jewish population.
Source: CC / Sienda
The Holocaust is not the only example of genocide in human history. What makes the Holocaust stand out amongst the long and plentiful list of human atrocities and evil? Germany was amongst the most powerful nations of the world and a leader in science, technology, medicine and engineering. The German contributions to art, music, literature and philosophy put German culture at the heart of what we would call Western Civilization. And yet this supposedly civilized people turned their great achievements and progress towards planning and carrying out ruthless genocidal murder with scientific and economic efficiency.
Children selected for extermination source: wikimedia commons / public domain
The date of January 27 was chosen for this solemn observance as the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated on January 27, 1945.
Auschwitz Death Camp source: Diego Delso, Wikimedia Commons, License CC-BY-SA 3.0
International Holocaust Remembrance Day is coming up on January 27. In Canada we observed Raoul Wallenberg Day on January 17. Join with us this month as we learn more about the Holocaust. Come down to the School Library to see the many books and other resources we have that deal with this horrific atrocity.
Since 2001, January 15 is Raoul Wallenberg Day in Canada. Mr. Wallenberg was a hero who courageously used his position to save tens of thousands of Jews in Hungary during the Nazi Holocaust. Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat working in Budapest during the Second World War. He and his colleagues, using Swedish passports, letters of protection and other diplomatic tools were able to help thousands of Jews to escape from Hungary and tens of thousands to survive through to the end of the war.
Wallenberg 1944 (Source: ushmm.org)
Tragically, Raoul Wallenberg disappeared after the Soviet conquest of Hungary from the Germans in 1945. Some reports suggest he died in a Soviet prison in 1947, but his fate is officially uncertain.
In January we both recognize Raoul Wallenberg Day in Canada, as well as International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27. Come down to the School Library this month, in person, and continue to visit us online, for more information on the horrific and tragic history of the Holocaust.
Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School Library 