This January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking 20 years since the commemorative day was declared by the United Nations and 81 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
McGill will mark the occasion with a commemorative lecture given by Aliza Luft, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California at Los Angeles.
On Tuesday, Jan. 27, Luft will share her research in a lecture titled “Between God and Vichy: Religion, Race, and the Holocaust in France,” at 5 p.m. at Thomson House.
The event will be a homecoming for Luft, who grew up in Montreal.
“I am the grandchild of four Holocaust survivors and was raised within Montreal’s Jewish community,” Luft said. “The Holocaust was not an abstract historical event but a living presence – shaping family stories, silences, institutions and moral commitments. Accepting this invitation therefore felt both deeply personal and profoundly professional.”
Difficult histories
Luft agreed to deliver the commemorative lecture “because I believe remembrance matters most when it invites critical engagement with the past in order to better understand and act on our obligations in the present.
“As a sociologist who studies genocide, violence and moral decision-making, I examine how ordinary people and institutions respond to difficult moral dilemmas, and how remembrance can move beyond ritual toward ethical and civic responsibility,” she said.
“Speaking at McGill on International Holocaust Remembrance Day offers a rare opportunity to bring together personal memory, scholarly inquiry and public reflection in a place that has helped shape who I am.”
McGill’s commemorative lecture honours the memory of Holocaust victims, raises awareness about antisemitism and fosters education and scholarship to combat hatred and promote understanding.
It’s an annual event that Ula Madej-Krupitski, Assistant Professor in McGill’s Department of Jewish Studies, believes is worth upholding.
“I hope attendees will leave not only with a deeper understanding of the moral complexities specific to this historical context, but also reflecting more broadly on questions of agency, trust and solidarity in other moments of moral crisis,” said Madej-Krupitski.
Rachel Hatcher, Student Affairs Liaison for Jewish Students at McGill, regards it as an educational opportunity.
“Learning and talking about this and other difficult histories contributes to a much-needed culture of dialogue and an appreciation of where people come from and what pasts they carry with them in the present,” said Hatcher.
“It offers the McGill and larger Montreal community an opportunity to come together to remember the millions killed by the Nazi regime and its allies, as well as an opportunity to learn more about the events of the Holocaust, the hate and circumstances that drove the Nazis and others to action, and the many acts of resistance and solidarity that also took place.”
The commemorative lecture is on Tuesday, January 27 at 5 p.m. at Thomson House, 3650 McTavish.