Honouring Holocaust Remembrance Day - A reflection by Laura Bowman
A reflection by Laura Bowman, project manager, research and evaluation, Employment Pathways program and co-lead of Holland Bloorview’s Jewish Employee Resource Group (ERG)
International Holocaust Remembrance Day holds significance and value in my personal and professional lives. As the grandchild of four Holocaust survivors, a researcher, and an occupational therapist who works to support inclusion, equity, and participation, I uphold the importance of looking to our past to prevent its repetition in our future. The Holocaust represents a historic campaign of hate that was driven by public campaigns of fear. Today, more than ever, we must consider how the media and messaging that we consume about the “other” impacts how we treat our fellow humans - our colleagues, neighbours and friends. During the Holocaust, the European Jewish community, along with the disabled community, Roma community, LGBTQ2A+ community, and others were scapegoated for mass societal issues. It led to the systematic and publicly approved termination of millions of lives. The Holocaust was also the largest, but not only, targeted extermination of Jewish communities at that time, others including historic Russian Pogroms and the Iraqi Farhud.
This day also allows us all to reflect upon the resiliency of our communities, and the need for cultural sensitivity in the work that we do. The Jewish community, like many others, has faced discrimination, and continues to see the dangers of antisemitism. We are resilient, and have grown strong, tenacious, and supportive of our communities and our host countries. When we say “Never Again” about the Holocaust, it is not because we look back so that we won’t forget, but because we constantly look forward to stop discrimination at a mass level like we faced back then. My hope is that on January 27th of 2026, our Holland Bloorview community can come together to reflect on how we support our minority communities, and work to engrain inclusion as we, together, work towards a future of “Never Again”.
