TORONTO — Fran Sonshine, left, newly elected national chair of the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem, says this position is a natural for her.
As she and her husband, Ed, are both children of Holocaust survivors,“the story has always been in our homes. It permeates the way we look at life,” she said.
The organization was founded 20 years ago, in order to implement the vision of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust remembrance and education centre in Jerusalem, through events, programs and fundraising activities across Canada.
Succeeding founding chair Hank Rosenbaum, Sonshine said her mission is to strengthen the profile of the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem, and widen its outreach.
Among her other community activities, Sonshine, a former elementary school teacher, was the 2009 annual campaign co-chair of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto with Henry Wolfond, and is the immediate past chair of the board of Baycrest.
She has been also been involved with other organizations, including State of Israel Bonds and Aish Hatorah; and as well as being a past chair of the Toronto Hadassah-WIZO bazaar, she has led missions to Israel and travelled across Canada as a leadership trainer for that organization.
She and her husband established one of the first legacy funds for the Toronto Jewish Foundation, and were honoured by the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem in 2003. They have also been recipients of the International spirit of Jerusalem Award given by State of Israel Bonds, Jewish National Fund Negev Dinner honorees, and last year, were one of five couples honoured by Baycrest at its Tribute Gala.
Sonshine, mother of three and grandmother of six, said she is grateful for the opportunity to “[take] my connection with Yad Vashem to a new level. Last year, I had the privilege [of visiting] Yad Vashem in Jerusalem to experience firsthand various events and programs on the dynamic campus. I look forward to working with Canadians across the country to further Holocaust remembrance and education.”
Especially now, she said, “we have a big job to do. There is still a lot of Holocaust denial, and it’s becoming more acceptable. It’s infuriating, and it’s more important than ever before to work with people and remind them that it sure can happen again. We have to stand up and talk.”
Among her plans, she said, is to bring to Canada Echoes and Reflections, a multimedia curriculum on the Holocaust developed by Yad Vashem, the Anti-Defamation League and the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education.
“It has been a success in the United States, and I would like to roll it out here. There are schools here that teach the Holocaust, but this is an actual lesson plan.”
She would also like to develop a followup program for educators who have travelled to Yad Vashem to learn how to teach the Holocaust.
“Yad Vashem is the No. 1 organization in the world for Holocaust education and commemoration, and we need to follow up experiences. We could set up conferences and provide continuing education.”
In addition to the annual Yom Hashoah program at Earl Bales Park, which the Canadian Society organizes with UJA Federation of Greater Toronto – the largest in the world after the one in Jerusalem – it has a joint venture with the government of Ontario in which it brings honorees to Queen’s Park who have rebuilt their lives after the Holocaust and have contributed to the community.
It also has archives, a library and artifacts, Sonshine said. “We are the go-to people, and we have it all at our fingertips.”
