Editorially speaking...
It was a week of remembrance ceremonies.
Sunday, May 1st honoured the Battle of the Atlantic which has always had special meaning for me as my father served on an RCN destroyer in that theatre during the Second World War.
The Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1945, was the longest continuous battle of the war, and one in which Canada’s armed forces, in particular the navy, played a starring role while escorting merchant ships to and from beleaguered Great Britain.
Officers on the bridge of a destroyer scan the Atlantic for German U-boats. —Wikipedia
How vital was it that ships bearing food, munitions and oil reach their destinations on the other side of the Atlantic? Britain required more than a million tons of imported material per week in order to survive and to fight. Warships such as the Royal Canadian Navy’s destroyers and corvettes kept the supply lines open and helped to turn the tide of war against Germany.
An even greater achievement when you consider that a great many Canadian seamen were from the Prairies and hadn’t even seen salt water until they joined the navy!
Which is why we continue to honour the heroes of our naval and merchant navies, 77 years later.
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Closer to home, Thursday, April 28th, was National Day of Mourning for those who lost their lives or were injured on the job. Services are held annually at Lake Cowichan’s Forest Workers’ Memorial Park where grey and brown bricks (brown for those who were killed) have been placed by family members in memory of loved ones.
I and family member Tom Teer were pleased to have this brown brick placed in memory of 25-year-old faller Walter Hogg of Nanaimo who was struck by a wind-blown ‘widow-maker’ (falling branch) while eating his lunch in 1943. His widow, Violet, never remarried and all of his personal effects were still in her home upon her death some years ago.
Sadly, a logger was killed on the job just days before last week’s service.
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May 3rd marked the 135th anniversary of Canada’s second worst colliery disaster, the explosion in Nanaimo’s No. 1 Esplanade Mine that killed 150 men including one of the rescue team.
If ever you should visit the Nanaimo Cemetery you will be struck by the number of old headstones that read to the effect, “...killed in the explosion of May 3rd....” Fathers and sons, and several sets of brothers were among those killed in the explosion which was later attributed to a poorly-placed shot that ignited gas. The resulting explosion killed some but many died of dreaded after-damp, a toxic cocktail of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen.
It took months to recover all of the bodies. Scores of women were widowed, more than 100 children left without fathers and brothers. There wouldn’t have been a single person in the greater Nanaimo area who didn’t mourn the loss of a relative, an in-law, a friend, a workmate, an acquaintance.
It had all the effect of a mini-nuclear bomb so devastating and complete was the impact. Yet, all these years later, few in Nanaimo seem to know or care. City Hall lowers its flag to half-mast but little else is done to mark the occasion.
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April 28 also marked National Holocaust Day and prompted this remarkable declaration from Alaskan Governor Mike Dunleavy:
April 28, 2022
WHEREAS, on April 28, 2022 the State of Israel and Jewish people around the world will commemorate Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.
WHEREAS, we must never forget the horrific events of the Holocaust and must teach them to our children and never forget the six million Jews who were ethnically cleansed by Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945; and
WHEREAS, antisemitism is an evil that threatens, not only those who subscribe to the Jewish faith, but all people no matter creed or background, it is a challenge to the core values that bind Americans together; and
WHEREAS, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities; and
WHEREAS, FBI statistics for 2020 have shown that Jews are the target of 58 percent of all religiously motivated hate crimes in the U.S. despite constituting a mere two percent of the population. A recent American Jewish Committee survey on antisemitism in America found that one in four American Jews has been the target of antisemitism over the past 12 months, either verbal or physical attacks, in person, online or on social media. Four in ten American Jews, 39 percent, changed their behavior over the past year out of fear of antisemitism; and
WHEREAS, state officials and institutions can play a powerful role in promoting values of tolerance and pluralism and in protecting citizens from acts of hate and bigotry motivated by discriminatory animus, including antisemitism.
NOW THEREFORE, I, Mike Dunleavy, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF ALASKA, do hereby proclaim April 28, 2022 as:
Holocaust Remembrance Day
in Alaska, and recommit ourselves to the promise that Never Again can such a tragedy occur by remembering the victims of the Holocaust and teaching our children about this tragedy.
Dated: April 28, 2022
And here in Canada? News reports of increasing incidents of hate crimes and continuing denials of the Holocaust.
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