Karen D. Lundy, LLB.

07/15/2026

I recently enjoyed reading The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. The book consists of a series of interactive letters between the main character Sybil Van Antwerp and her friends, family and authors. I identified with Sybil who is a retired lawyer of my vintage. The book deals with serious life issues including work life balance, ageing, illness, grief, communication and identity. The remarks on sexism in the legal profession in the 1970s resonated with me as did the guilt mothers experience in wanting a career. Evans skillfully shows Sybil’s character development and ability to overcome profound challenges in the letters.
Coincidentally, I just returned from vacation in Scotland where I saw the highland coos (cows). In the book, Sybil visits a character who lives in a lovely, flat house on a small loch (lake). Sybil remarks that the cows are “like Chewbacca from the Star War Films.”
So, what are you reading?

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04/10/2026

I enjoyed reading Margaret Atwood's memoir which was very interesting and candid.

I was struck by her mention that her partner's father was involved in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and also her mention about the Holocaust and the silence regarding it in the 1950s. A movie was made in 1965 by the National Film Board of Canada called Memorandum by Donald Brittain. It is about my late father-in-law Bernard Laufer going back to Bergen-Belsen where he was imprisoned. My husband, Joe who was 17 at the time of the movie accompanied him on the journey. Joe was one of 2000 Belsen babies born after liberation. Apart from my personal connection to the movie through marriage, the film is quite well done. It is 58 minutes long and in black and white and you can watch it online by googling nfb memorandum.

The movie won awards and is relevant today dealing with themes of responsibility, accountability and the banality of evil.

Ms. Atwood is quite right about the censorship of the Holocaust images after liberation. The then powers that be were concerned about traumatizing people by publicizing the pictures. They are difficult to process. Also, with the exception of my late father-in-law, many survivors were not able to discuss what happened for complex psychological reasons.

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04/07/2026

Memorandum

On February 7, 2026, my husband screened Donald Brittain’s National Film Board movie Memorandum for our synagogue.

Memorandum is an award winning documentary movie made in 1965 about my late father-in-law, Bernard Laufer and husband, Joe then age 17, returning to Bergen-Belsen, the N**i concentration camp where my husband was born after liberation. The movie is in black and white and is 58 minutes long.

Bergen Belsen was originally a military base established between 1935 and 1937. In 1940, it was converted to a Prisoner of War Camp. The SS overtook Bergen-Belsen in April 1943 and used it as a concentration camp. In 1944, the camp was used to hold thousands of Jewish prisoners who were evacuated from other concentration camps. The N**is sent at least 85,000 men, women and children to Bergen-Belsen. These prisoners lived in terrible conditions with overcrowding, bad sanitation, inadequate food, water and shelter. These conditions caused outbreaks of diseases including typhus, tuberculosis, typhoid fever and dysentery resulting in further deaths. Tens of thousands of prisoners died in the early months of 1945 including Anne Frank and her sister Margot.

The British Army liberated Bergen Belsen in April 15, 1945. At that time, they found 55,000 prisoner alive but many seriously ill. Thousands of dead bodies were unburied on the ground.

The survivors established newspapers, a police force, sport teams, schools, theatre, arts and cultural programming. My husband was one of two thousand Belsen babies born after the war. The camp was closed in September 1950 with the displaced persons immigrating to Israel, United States and Canada.

The survivors of Bergen-Belsen organized a trip back to the camp in 1965 for the 20th anniversary of liberation of the camp. The National Film Board requested to film the event and focused on my late father-in-law. Bernard Laufer was a good choice as a representative of the survivors. In a time when survivors were reluctant to speak about their experiences, Bernard Laufer was an excellent witness because of his direct and authentic personality.

When my father-in-law and husband returned to the camp, they were dismayed to find it had been turned into a park. My father-in-law cried out against an attempt by the Germans to cover their tracks over the unspeakable horrors that took place there.

The movie brilliantly weaves my father-in-law’s journey to the new Germany into important themes and historical context. The title Memorandum refers to Hitler’s memorandum concerning the final solution to the Jewish problem. The Gestapo officers who murdered by memorandum were acquitted because there was no proof that they personally killed anyone. The film warns us that this could happen anywhere that people have short memories and forget the past. The themes of responsibility, accountability and the banality of evil apply to what is happening today.

02/26/2026

I recently watched Henry Louis Gates’ series Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History which was interesting and thoughtful. The Jews were very involved in the Black Civil Rights movement and because of their experience with the Holocaust were committed to eradicating racism.

In this four-part series, Dr. Gates documents the ups and downs of the relationship between Blacks and Jews. The relationship began to fray when some Black leaders wanted to assert their independence from the Jews. There was resentment from social factors involved when less fortunate Blacks were in a tenant relationship with more affluent Jewish landlords. There was an unfortunate development where some Black leaders became antisemitic and spread falsehoods abut Jews being instrumental in the slave trade. To his credit, Dr. Gates, who was a university professor, spoke up for the Jews at that point and corrected this factual error.

In the last of the series, Dr. Gates presented the further deterioration of the relationship after October 7, 2023. He expressed sympathy for the Jews after the brutal attack on innocent civilians by Hamas. My criticism of Dr. Gates’ portrayal in the series was when he commented that the Blacks’ sympathy for the Jews diminished significantly when Israel defended itself after the attack. He showed a heartbreaking picture of the innocent Palestinian civilians wounded in a land demolished by Israel. His explanation was that because of this action, the Blacks viewed Jews as colonial aggressors against defenseless victims. This is not a fair representation of the facts. In defense of Israel, it was in the difficult position of needing to remove Hamas, a terrorist organization dedicated to genocide of the Jews and destructions of Israel. Israel also needed to rescue the hostages taken and being tortured by Hamas. Israel had no desire to harm innocent civilians, and it was Hamas who was using these civilians as a human shield so that they could achieve their goal of destroying Israel. By having the heartbreaking picture publicized, Hamas has succeeded in winning a propaganda war against Israel and fanning the flames of anti-Semitism worldwide. As a scholar and ethical person, Dr. Gates should have taken care to put that picture in context.

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12/02/2025

We want to share a little more about who we are — the families behind FAIR.
We are overwhelmingly a network of mothers.
Many of us were, or still are, single mothers.
Mothers to children with disabilities of every kind — physical, intellectual, developmental, medical, behavioural, mental health–related, autism spectrum, and combinations of all of the above.
Some of our children are medically fragile. Some require total care. Some cannot speak. Some cannot walk. Some cannot be left alone for even a moment.
Most of us have had to fight for every inch of support our children have ever received. Nothing has ever come easily. Nothing has ever been handed to us.
Many fathers are no longer in the picture.
Families fracture under relentless crisis.
Some of us have carried our children’s entire lives on our own shoulders.
For those lucky enough to have school support during the day, that time became our lifeline — the only hours we had to work, shop, run errands, or simply breathe. But many schools couldn’t support our children’s needs, so we were called home again and again until eventually… some of us lost jobs. Because how many times can a parent leave work before the job disappears?
And when we were home, we weren’t resting.
We became nurses, therapists, educators, advocates, and caregivers — on top of doing the cooking, cleaning, bills, laundry, and everything else life demands.
We fed our children.
We moved their bodies.
We carried them, bathed them, dressed them, toileted them.
We managed suctioning, tube feeding, seizures, medications, wheelchairs, meltdowns, behaviours, hospital stays, and sleepless nights.
Some of our children cannot turn on an iPad, use a remote, read a book, eat independently, or communicate their needs.
We became their voice because they cannot speak for themselves.
And we did it all exhausted — sometimes dangerously sleep-deprived — but always with unconditional love.
Eventually, as our children became adults, we reached a point many people cannot understand.
Not a moment of failure — but a moment of realism.
A moment where we knew that one exhausted mother cannot keep doing 24/7 care forever.
We were told that group homes funded by the Ontario government would give our adult children opportunities, inclusion, growth, and support.
We were told they would have activities, outings, friendships, community connection, and trained staff who understood their needs.
We were promised our children would thrive.
People on the outside sometimes call us “the lucky ones” because our children got into a group home — especially with the waitlist for Developmental Services now at over 50,000 people and climbing.
But if only they knew.
Instead of support, many of our children receive the bare minimum — or less.
Many spend their days sitting in front of a television with no activities, no communication, no engagement, no stimulation.
They are not being supported to grow or maintain their skills.
They regress.
They lose abilities.
They lose their spark.
Staff turnover is constant.
The people caring for them often do not know them.
And the people who do know them best — their mothers — are slowly shut out.
Advocacy is met with retaliation.
Families are silenced, restricted, intimidated, or told:
"If you don’t like it, take them home."
If only it were that simple.
We are exhausted.
We are burnt out in ways that don’t even have words.
We have spent decades advocating, navigating systems, fighting for services, and trying to protect our children from falling through cracks big enough to swallow them whole.
And here is the truth that keeps us up at night:
If we do not fix this system before we die… what will happen to our children when we are gone?
Who will speak for them?
Who will protect them?
Who will love them as fiercely as we do?
This isn’t just our story.
It’s a warning.
A call to action.
A plea for change.
Because if this system continues failing our children… it will fail yours too.
Your grandchildren.
Your neighbour’s child.
Your friend’s child.
Anyone who becomes disabled, injured, or vulnerable.
This is why FAIR exists.
To fight for change — loudly, publicly, and together.
Because our children deserve lives of dignity, safety, and joy — not merely survival.