Watch recordings of previous commemorative events and speakers hosted by the Library and Centennial College.
Voices of the Holocaust: the need to listen and remember
11/09/2020
As a child survivor of the Shoah, Mr. Andy Reti will share his memories of his family’s capture and separation by recounting the experience of being forced into a Jewish ghetto. Register today to hear this incredible and courageous story of survival and resilience.
Find out more about the Holocaust and other Genocides by exploring this interactive presentation.
From Learning Comes Life: A New generation of Holocaust Scholarship
11/05/2019
Now, more than ever, it is important to connect to the past to provide answers for the future. Max Eisen, a concentration camp survivor whose masterful book, By Chance Alone: A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz, won Canada Reads 2019, presented testimony to the harrowing event of the past.
Generations to Remember: Passing Down the Pivotal
11/01/2018
Each narrative of survival in the Holocaust is as unique as the individuals themselves. The personal transfer of our history through generations is essential, as it ensures that divers stories are preserved. Captain Martin Maxwell, a living witness who fled Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938 and returned to fight for the Allied Forces, will give first-person testimony.
Our Responsibility to Remember
11/8/2016
Looking to the future, how will we take responsibility for new generations learning about the victims of the Holocaust? How will they hear the personal stories of those who survived? Through selected video clips and student projects, this program explored how artistic skills, photography, and new technologies are being used to carry forward the visual and auditory memories of victims and survivors of genocide.
In 2021, Centennial welcomed author Jamie Michaels to discuss the roots of racism with a local focus on the Toronto Christie Pits Riot in August 1933. Although long past for many of us, it remains one of the worst outbreaks of racial violence in Canadian history with over 10,000 participants and spectators. The riot was sparked by Nazi-inspired youth flying a swastika flag at a public baseball game to antagonize and provoke Jewish Canadians.
Michaels' graphic novel, Christie Pits, is described as a gritty ride through Toronto’s immigrant neighbourhood that re-tells the incredible story of when young Jewish and Italian immigrants squared off against Nazi-inspired thugs on the streets of Toronto.
History never repeats itself, but it often rhymes—the lessons from the 1933 Christie Pits Riot remain as relevant today as when they transpired.
Wednesday, November 17, 2021, we hosted a live, virtual event with keynote speaker, Jamie Michaels, a critically acclaimed writer. His most recent graphic novel Christie Pits unpacks the tensions between immigrants and pro-fascists in 1930s Toronto that culminated in the Christie Pits Riot.
View the recording of the event
Contact Gosha Trzaski for more information.
Hosted by Centennial Libraries in partnership with School of English and Liberal Studies and The Centre for Global Citizenship Education and Inclusion.