The Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre formally opened on November 7, 1994, in the Jewish Community Centre. As part of the opening ceremony, a Mezuzah dedication was held, thus blessing the VHEC as a house of learning—”a home for our many programs and a permanent legacy founded by survivors and supported by many friends,” Dr. Robert Krell said in his remarks that day.

To symbolize the gift of legacy to the community and to succeeding generations, the Mezuzah was passed from Robert Waisman, a survivor of Buchenwald concentration camp, to Mariette Doduck, who survived as a child in hiding, to Arthur Pouchet, a child of Holocaust survivors, to Shelley Greenberg, the granddaughter of the survivor David Shafran (z’l). Then the Mezuzah was affixed to the doorframe at the entrance of the VHEC. Rabbi Imre Bella, a child of Hungarian Holocaust survivors, offered the traditional blessing.

Thank you for reading the story of our first Mezuzah dedication. This short reflection kicks off the beginning of our celebrations; over the next year we will be reflecting on our 30th anniversary and all the many memories we have made together.