Canada unveiled its fist ever National Holocaust Monument less than a week ago in Ottowa, but the dedication plaque had left out any mention of Jews.
While the plaque had a touching tribute to the ‘the millions of men, women and children murdered during the Holocaust,’ it never referenced the Jewish people specifically or anything about anti-Semitism for that matter.
The the glaring omission only came to light after the dedication as no one seemed to notice until then.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (far left) visited the National Holocaust Monument. He caught the brunt of the outrage after the dedicatoin plaque left off mention of the Jewish people
The dedication plaque, though a touching tribute, glaringly never mentions Jewish people or anti-Semitism
The $8.9 million memorial features concrete triangles that form a Star of David, but the plaque had to be removed after backlash about the oversight.
During the unveiling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the dedication ‘one of those all too rare moments when all parties come together’, according to the Washington Post.
But as soon as his opposition caught wind of the omission on the plaque they used the lapse to attack him, though he had nothing to do with the plaque itself.
The Conservative Party’s David Sweet said: ‘If we are going to stamp out hatred toward Jews, it is important to get history right,’ the Guardian reported. He asked whether Trudeau would be rectifying the ‘profoundly obvious omission.’
Unfortunately for Trudeau its not the first time he’s been caught up in a gaff when it’s come to the Holocaust.
The prime minister was blasted last year for speaking too generally about hate and failing to mention Jews on International Holocaust Memorial Day.
Trudeau tours the monument, constructed of concrete triangles that form a Star of David
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a ceremony for the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa
He said in a speech that day ‘The Holocaust is a stark reminder of the dangers and risks of allowing hate, prejudice, and discrimination to spread unchallenged,’ he said in a statement on that day in 2016.
Eva Kuper, 76, a Holocaust survivor was at the dedication ceremony. Her mother was killed in Treblinka, the Nazi death camp 50 miles northeast of Warsaw.
She told the Ottawa Citizen: ‘It is a fitting tribute to the victims, the survivors, and to the Canadians who took part in defeating the Nazis.’
A new plaque is in the works. Mélanie Joly, Canada’s heritage minister, said it will be one ‘with language that reflects the horrors experienced by the Jewish people.’