Joint Statement Supporting B’nai Brith’s Appeal of the Governments Refusal to Release Holocaust Records

 

On November 4, 2024, B’nai Brith discovered that Library and Archives Canada will not release Part II of the 1986 Deschênes Commission’s report on Nazi war criminals. This goes against the Government of Canada’s commitment to open Holocaust-related archives, as outlined in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) Stockholm Declaration. 

Today, B’nai Brith appealed the decision to the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada. To support the appeal, B’nai Brith has organized a joint statement backed by a wide range of supporters from Canada and around the world.

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, support B’nai Brith Canada’s appeal with regard to Library and Archives Canada’s decision of November 4, 2024 to not provide “A copy of the Commissioner of Inquiry on War Criminals, Report, Part II – dated December 30, 1986, By the Honourable Jules Deschênes, Commissioner, made pursuant to Order-in-Council PC-1985-348.” 

We are fully supportive of B’nai Brith Canada’s present efforts to seek the release of Part II of the 1986 Deschênes Commission’s report as the overall public interest clearly favours disclosing historical information with respect to the Government of Canada’s response (or non-response) to suspected Nazi war criminals who immigrated to Canada after World War II. 

Historians and the Canadian public generally have not yet been afforded access to the Deschênes Commission’s detailed findings and case-specific recommendations. Release of this information is vital.  

The release of the Deschênes Commission’s findings will enable the Canadian public to assess the extent to which Canada investigated the 20 individuals identified by the Deschênes Commission as requiring the Government of Canada’s “urgent attention” and the other 200 plus individuals that it also flagged for a follow up investigation. The full release of the Commission’s report will provide further closure to the Jewish community and all other communities who were unduly harmed by the decisions made by the federal government in the wake of the Holocaust. It will also provide access to information that will allow our nation to learn from its past transgressions in order to ensure that Canada does not repeat the mistakes of its past.  

In addition, there appears to be little public interest in continuing to withhold this information from the Canadian public. It has been nearly 80 years since the end of the Second world War and nearly 40 years since the Deschênes Commission issued its report. The passage of time has mitigated the concerns that have previously thwarted the additional disclosure of the Commission’s findings. As a member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), the Government of Canada has a duty to fulfill a key commitment of the IHRA’s Stockholm Declaration, which commits all signatories, including Canada to “Take all necessary steps to facilitate the opening of archives in order to ensure that all documents bearing on the Holocaust are available to researchers.” It is our hope that Canada will continue to abide by its duties as a signatory of the IHRA’s Stockholm Declaration.   (more...)

Joint Statement Supporting B’nai Brith’s Appeal of the Governments Refusal to Release Holocaust Records