Media releases

• 75th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation highlights importance of education and remembrance

  Thursday, January 23, 2020 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 23 January 2020 – R0015

  Born in Amsterdam in 1940, Jack Veffer and his brother Maurice survived the Holocaust by fleeing to Switzerland with a neighbour.

  His parents and much of his extended family died in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

  “The road to recovery has been long and painful,” says Veffer. “We survivors all have a sacred mission to bear witness as long as we can. It might help rid humanity of racism and provide the healing the world so badly needs.

  “Knowledge is the bulwark against racism and antisemitism.”

  With only around 5,000 Holocaust survivors still alive in Canada, the opportunity for younger generations to learn from eye-witnesses is dwindling.

  The theme chosen by The Holocaust and United Nations Outreach Programme for 2020 is education and remembrance, and a local event organized by Brock University Associate Professor of History Elizabeth Vlossak and community partners will give the Niagara community the opportunity to learn about the Holocaust from Veffer.

  The need for remembrance and education is highlighted by a study released in January 2019. A survey of 2,000 Canadians revealed that 1-in-5 young people in Canada hasn’t heard of the Holocaust or isn’t sure what it is, and 49 per cent of respondents couldn’t name a single concentration camp.

  “I’m disappointed with and concerned about how few of my own students can define ‘antisemitism,’” says Vlossak. “I’m shocked by the studies that have come out showing how many Canadians don’t know what Auschwitz or the Holocaust are.”

  The History Lab, a partnership between academic historians and community organizations, will be holding its third annual Honouring International Holocaust Remembrance Day event on Monday, Jan. 27 at the Niagara Artists Centre in St. Catharines from 6 to 8 p.m.

  “I’m horrified by the rise of antisemitic violence around the world,” says Vlossak. “We have to keep working to educate the public. This is why the annual History Lab event Honouring Holocaust Remembrance Day is so important.”

  This year marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, where more than 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were murdered by the Nazis. Only about 7,000 prisoners survived to be liberated by the Soviet troops.

  Memorial ceremonies marking the end of the Holocaust and the end of the Second World War will be held around the world.

  “We are so fortunate that Jack Veffer will be sharing his experiences with us,” says Vlossak. “What is especially interesting about his story is that it is one we don’t hear very often: the experiences of Jewish children orphaned by the Holocaust, and who grew up in a postwar Europe that silenced them and prevented them from addressing their trauma.

  Veffer didn’t begin to process his experience as a child survivor of the Holocaust until his 60s. He wrote his first book, Through the Eyes of the Child: Survival of the Holocaust, in 2007 and speaks to community and student groups throughout the year.

  “By sharing my story in writing and through my talks at many different events in schools, universities and churches, my outlook about that dark period took on a different aspect,” says Veffer. “We cannot be silent and assume that our children will learn from our silence.”

  The event has been organized by The History Lab with support from the Niagara Military Museum, Seedling for Change in History, Niagara Artists Centre and Brock University.

  Copies of Veffer’s book and audiobook will be available for purchase and the event will be livestreamed by logging into Lifesize and using passcode 1492.

  The History Lab is a scholarly community engagement partnership that builds, strengthens and promotes collaboration between scholars and grassroots citizen organizations in the Niagara region through guest lectures, seminar series, special events, research, and academic community outreach activities.

  What: Honouring International Holocaust Remembrance Day

  Where: Niagara Artists Centre, 354 St. Paul St., St. Catharines

  When: Monday, Jan. 27, 6 to 8 p.m.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews: 

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock students find alarming amounts of plastic in sand at St. Catharines beach

  Wednesday, January 22, 2020 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 22 January 2020 – R0014

  A day at the beach doesn’t often involve lab work, but for a group of Brock University fourth-year Geography students tasked with assessing plastic waste on the shores of Lake Ontario last fall, it was just that.

  Back in October, students from Professor of Geography and Tourism Studies Michael Pisaric’s GEOG 4P26 class visited Sunset Beach in north St. Catharines to measure the quantity of plastics turning up in the sand.

  Students measured out plots on the beach and sifted through the sand to collect as many tiny pieces of plastic as they could. They compiled their findings in lab reports for the end of the Fall Term.

  The results are now in, and they’re alarming.

  In one sample alone, one square metre of the beach yielded 665 individual pieces of plastic material.

  Pisaric called the amount and variety of plastics collected in the samples “striking.”

  “I think much of the discussion concerning plastics in the environment has been focused on the oceans and we are quickly understanding that plastic pollution is also an important issue closer to home in the Great Lakes,” said Pisaric, who is also Chair of the Geography and Tourism Studies Department. “This small study of a single beach on Lake Ontario clearly shows the prevalence of plastic pollution in our own backyard is a serious problem.”

  Emily Bowyer, a third-year student from Mississauga majoring in Geography and Biology who participated in the field collection, described it as “an opportunity to see the magnitude of the problems in the environment first-hand.”

  Another surprise to the team was the prevalence of nurdles — small plastic pellets used in the manufacture of many different goods.

  Investigation during the course uncovered a 2013 Toronto Star article that suggested nurdles may have made their way into Lake Ontario via the Humber River during a factory fire.

  “It is interesting to speculate that the prevalence of nurdles we noted in our samples may have originated on the other side of Lake Ontario,” Pisaric said.

  The professor plans to run a similar investigation when the course is offered again next fall to address some of the questions that cropped up in light of the results of the students’ labs.

  “Perhaps next time around I will have the students compare the beaches on Lake Ontario with a beach on Lake Erie,” he said. “Are similar quantities of plastics occurring in both areas? Do the types of plastic differ between the two lake environments?”

  Carolyn Finlayson, Experiential Education Co-ordinator for the Faculty of Social Sciences, attended the field trip and witnessed how interested casual beach visitors were in the students’ activities.

  “It’s a wonderful example of the larger impact experiential learning can have on our Niagara community and our students,” she said. “By working at the beach that day for their lab, students were able to start conversations with beachgoers about their use of plastic and its impact on the shorelines they enjoy.”

  Cara Krezek, Director of Co-op, Career and Experiential Education, said these were exactly the types of courses the University envisioned when it committed to expanding experiential learning so all students had access to meaningful experiences in their programs.

  “Courses like these take our students into a real-world setting and allow them to apply their knowledge, learn new skills and reflect on how they can take these experiences forward to a future career path,” Krezek said. “I am certain these students will never forget their findings and it will change the way they interact with plastics.”

  Professor of Geography and Tourism Studies Michael Pisaric is available for interviews.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews: 

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

  Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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  Categories: Media releases