In 1939, the MS St. Louis, a ship carrying German Jewish refugees desperately seeking safe haven, was denied entry into Canadian waters. Forced to turn back, its passengers were condemned to almost certain death in Nazi Europe. Although this injustice took place over seventy years ago, the chapter on the St. Louis is not yet closed.

A new National Task Force on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research will bring together academics, educators and community stakeholders to lay to rest unanswered questions about that dark era in Canadian history. Cutting edge research and new educational material will lead to greater public awareness of the impact of Canada’s restrictive wartime immigration policies, encouraging a resolve in a new generation of Canadians that the injustices of the past must never be repeated.