The Canadian Armed Forces says it regrets a social media post published on International Holocaust Remembrance Day that did not include mention of Jewish people.
The post was published on the official X account of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) on Jan. 27, saying, “Today, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day we honour the victims that suffered and died at the hands of fascism for being members of marginalized groups.”
“We must take time to recognize that a society built on fear, divisiveness, and marginalization will lead to tragedy. We must strive for a culture of inclusiveness and diversity so that we can build a strong and resilient society together, free of anti-semitism and hate,” the post read.
The message has since been removed, but a screenshot of the post was shared on social media by University of Ottawa professor and Holocaust expert Jan Grabowski, who said he initially thought it was “a fake.”
“Unfortunately, it’s not,” he said in a Jan. 30 post on Facebook. “I always thought that on that particular day we commemorate Jews who died because they were Jews, and not because they were ‘members of a marginalized group,’” he added.
He noted the widely recognized definition of the Holocaust is the “systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million European Jews by the Nazi German regime and its allies and collaborators,” and said that “Holocaust distortion and its de-Judification” is a form of Holocaust denial.
Spokesperson Maj. Stacie Nelles told The Epoch Times that the CAF acknowledges the post did not “clearly and explicitly identify Jews as the victims of the Holocaust.”
Nelles said the intent of the post had been to mark “an important and solemn day in history,” but that the wording “did not reflect the level of historical precision and sensitivity required.”
“When the Canadian Army became aware the wording in the post did not accurately reflect the historical reality of the Holocaust, specifically the genocide of six million Jews, the post was immediately removed to prevent any further harm,” Nelles said.
Nelles added there would be “additional safeguards” put in place for historically and culturally sensitive commemorations on social media “to prevent a similar situation from occurring again.”
Media monitoring group Honest Reporting Canada has called on the Canadian Army to publicly apologize for the post, saying that simply deleting it is “not how government channels should address such an issue as it doesn’t provide transparency.” The organization noted the post had been deleted following public backlash.
“Rather than deleting the statement and acting as though it never happened, the Canadian Army should have corrected their statement and issued an apology to the Jewish community,” the group said in a Feb. 5 post on its website.
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