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Statement by the Prime Minister
November 6, 1998
Ottawa, Ontario
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien today issued the following statement marking the 60th anniversary of Kristallnacht in Nazi Germany on November 9th:
"The Final Solution turned our ideas of civilized government on their head - with dispossession, humiliation, and genocide being enforced with all the awesome power that the modern state has at its disposal.
With the Night Of Broken Glass, the Nazis - for the first time - turned the instruments of government against Jews in a systematic and direct way. Beginning the awful journey down a long and terrible road that ended at Auschwitz, Treblinka and countless other outposts of evil that will remain forever etched on the human consciousness.
As Jews in Canada and around the world mark this solemn moment in history, we must stand with them. We must reaffirm our collective commitment never to forget. To fight hatred and intolerance in all of its forms. And - above all - we must keep faith with the memory of the 6 million who died by being ready - as a nation and as a community of nations - to act whenever and wherever the spectre of genocide again rears its ugly head."
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PMO Press Office: (613) 957-5555
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