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City of Toronto Proclamation |
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"Jewish Martyrs of Jody Day"
December 17, 2001
| WHEREAS: |
a memorial meeting for the Jewish people of the Town of Jody, Poland, who were massacred by the Nazis on December 17, 1941, the 5th day of Chanukah celebrations, is being held in the town at the mass grave and monument that was erected to immortalize the Jewish victims on the 60th Anniversary of the massacre, with survivors coming from the four corners of the world to meet and honour the non-Jewish people who saved the lives of Jews during the Holocaust; and |
| WHEREAS: |
on the day of the massacre over 500 Jewish men, women and children were murdered and about 200 escaped. During the next three weeks many were captured by the local population and delivered to the Germans; and |
| WHEREAS: |
many non-Jews risked their lives to hide the escapees who later entered the Koziany Forest and joined mixed Jewish-Soviet partisan brigades and fought bravely in the Resistance with some making the ultimate sacrifice. Proportionate to the population, more Jewish boys and girls, men and women from Jody joined the partisans than from any other city or town in Europe; and |
| WHEREAS: |
we honour the memories of the innocent men, women and children who were massacred and would have contributed so much to society. We also honour the courageous Jews who fought in the Resistance and the righteous who risked their own lives to save some of the Jewish people of Jody. |
| NOW, |
| THEREFORE: |
I, Mayor Mel Lastman, on behalf of Toronto City Council and the 2.5 million people of our great City, do hereby proclaim December 17, 2001 as "Jewish Martyrs of Jody Day" in commemoration of these great tragedies |
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