Moose Jaw Times-Herald: 'A moving experience' of the Holocaust

Police chief travels to concentration camps, Israel on a group tour

The group Police Chief Rick Bourassa was with for
 the From Compassion to Action tour put on by the
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust
Studies stand on Mt. Scopus overlooking Jerusalem.
Submitted photo

By Lisa Goudy

When Police Chief Rick Bourassa visited Birkenau and Auschwitz with a concentration camp survivor, it was cold and damp outside.

"What really struck me was how quiet it was. There were no birds. There was no noise. It was eerily still and quiet the whole time we were there and we were there for the entire day," he said. "It was just a stark reminder of what it must have been like and a horrible set of circumstances."

He was one of a group of 24 Canadians, comprised primarily of senior police and government officials, who went on the tour, From Compassion to Action, put on by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies. Bourassa's daughter, who was a history major in university, also accompanied him.

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