Rose Lipszyc as a girl (far right, middle row) with her maternal grandmother, siblings and cousins in Lublin, Poland, in 1938 before the outbreak of WW II. [Courtesy Toronto Holocaust Museum]

Lessons of the Holocaust: Two women who wouldn’t let Canadians forget

STORY BY RICHARD FOOT

Canada recently lost two beacons of moral conscience.

Judy Weissenberg Cohen and Rose Lipszyc, survivors of the Holocaust, died last month in Toronto. Both were 97—two remarkable women whose experiences illustrate not only the depths of darkness that humanity can reach, but also the light that can emerge in its wake.

Each was a reminder of why Canada was right to fight the Second World War, and of the risks in forgetting its lessons.

Cohen was born in Debrecen, Hungary, in 1928, the youngest of seven siblings in a large Orthodox Jewish family. The early years of the war were difficult but not impossible for Hungarian Jews. That changed in March 1944 when the Germans occupied the country and, as Cohen once wrote, “the Holocaust, with all its horrible ramifications, began for us.”

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Gardens and a greenhouse at the Veteran Farm Project property in Sweets Corner, N.S. [courtesy Jessica Miller]

Jessica Miller on the Veteran Farm Project

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

“Farming is never as straightforward as you hope it will be,” said retired sergeant Jessica Miller. The former medic would know, having traded tourniquets for trowels after a 22-year career in the Canadian Armed Forces.

When a 2015 service-related injury prompted her departure from the military, Miller strove to navigate civvy street as best she could. Finally, in 2018, she and her husband, retired sergeant Steve Murgatroyd, established the Veteran Farm Project in Sweets Corner, N.S. The not-for-profit community space tackles food insecurity in the province and has evolved into a safe, nurturing and nature-based sanctuary for women of varied backgrounds—uniformed or otherwise.

The Veteran Farm Project now offers an array of grounding activities, from green-thumbed volunteering to workshops and informal peer-support gatherings. On July 30, 2026, it also unveiled the Honouring Garden dedicated to individual women whose military contributions have historically received limited recognition.

Speaking to Legion Magazine, Miller recounted the project’s journey so far.

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Member Benefit Partner

Canadian homeowners aged 55+ can access up to 55% of their home’s value without having to sell. As a proud partner of The Royal Canadian Legion, HomeEquity bank offers Legion members $500 cash back* upon funding their CHIP Reverse Mortgage.

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