In the Monument

Boris Ivanov's documentary focuses on the challenges faced in the design and construction of the Canadian Holocaust Monument in Ottawa. Part of the challenge involves the uncomfortable acknowledgment of Canada's refusal to accommodate Jewish refugees trying to flee Hitler's Germany prior to the outset of World War II. Canada was the last of the Allied nations to incorporate a Holocaust memorial in its capital, and one question involves how at this late date do you create a structure devoted to the most horrific event of the 20th century? Another facet lies in considering how the lessons of the Holocaust were ignored by the world when facing genocides in Africa and Asia, a particularly thorny observation given that many Jewish survivors correctly see the Holocaust as the Nazis' attempt to annihilate Europe's Jews, but do not view it within the context of other genocides. In the Monument is ultimately too short to effectively cover so many intellectual and emotional issues, finding difficulty in balancing architectural presentations with debates on how to frame the story of the Holocaust for today's supposedly short-attention-span youth, as well as efforts to bring a distinctively Canadian personality to the monument. Still, this documentary does raise interesting questions and should be considered a strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)