December 2024
The Canadian Society for Yad Vashem (CSYV) Holocaust Memorial Site in North York is a monument dedicated to the memory of victims and survivors of the Holocaust. Containing almost 5,000 names, it is the most extensive listing of any memorial site in Canada. The monument was built in three phases over a period of 30 years, situated in Earl Bales Park, next to the residential areas where thousands of Holocaust survivors came to Canada after the war.
Designers by David Smuschkowitz and Peter Silverman, two Holocaust survivors and founders of the CSYV, envisioned the monument as a permanent reminder of the Holocaust’s devastating toll and the triumph of spirit. Originally consisting of the memorial flame, designed by artist Ernest Raab, the founding pillars, and central monument, the CSYV Holocaust Memorial Site was officially dedicated in 1991.
Eight marble walls were added in 2001, a project that then-national chair of the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem, Fran Sonshine, considers her greatest legacy at the CSYV. Sonshine more recently helped establish Canada’s National Holocaust Monument near Parliament Hill in Ottawa, which was dedicated in September 2017.
The north side walls include: The Herman and Marya Grad Wall of Remembrance, Goldgrub Family Wall of Hope, and Turk and Laren Families Wall of Commitment, all containing names of victims of the Holocaust. The Renee Bleeman and Ron Berenbaum Wall of Living Legacy is a tribute to donors who contributed financially to the memorial project.
The south walls include: The Ted Libfeld Remembrance Wall, which contains names of survivors, the Ed and Fran Sonshine Children’s Memorial Wall, which is dedicated to the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust, the Drimmer Family Wall is devoted to the Righteous Among Nations, non-Jewish individuals who risked their lives and those of their families to save Jews, and the Ganz Wall of Honour contains names of survivors and victims of the Holocaust.
A revitalization project in the summer of 2013 saw the addition of the entrance pillars, garden pillars, and plaques, along with improved landscaping and the erection the Sylvia and Henry Waks Yad Vashem Menorah.
Earl Bales Park is on Bathurst Street, just south of Lawrence Avenue, in North York, Ontario.
Sources: https://www.yadvashem.ca/csyv-holocaust-memorial, National Holocaust Monument – Wikipedia, Shael Rosenbaum, a member of the third generation of survivors, takes over ‘the Holocaust business’ at the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem – The Canadian Jewish News.
