Your news this week: County road allowance - Page 3 Eskimos visit Bruderheim - Page 5 Andrew Figure Skating - Page 13, 16
www.LamontLeader.com
Vol. 10, No. 22, Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Holocaust survivor Eva Olsson shares her story by ourselves,” and that is why she has been speaking and writing about her personal experiences inside Editor prison camps during World War II in Germany since the mid-’90’s. “For 50 years I was silent. But silence didn’t heal Olsson said she is “very lucky” to be alive, and me.” firmly believes “God wanted me to survive to talk to Those word were spoken by Holocaust survivor these kids and teach them not to hate.” and national bestselling author Dr. Eva Olsson to stuIn fact, the word “hate” is a word Olsson will never dents, staff and community members who had gath- say because she and many members of her family ered in the gymnasium to listen to her story on were starved, beaten and murdered at the hands of Tuesday, March 24th. the German soldiers more than 70 years ago. The 90-year-old told the audience, “We cannot heal The power of hate was not more powerful than at that time. “I was 19 when I was bullied by the Nazi’s. They didn’t like my religion.” Over the course of six years, more than six million Jews were murdered by the Nazi’s. Olsson begged the students never to use the word hate. “This is Canada, where we need to love each other.” Olsson asked the students what they would do if they were bullied, and encouraged them to speak out against bullying and tell their parents and teachers. “When I was bullied I didn’t have anyone to tell.” The Germans came for Olsson and her family in the spring of 1944 when they invaded Hungary. “They marched us to the train station seven miles away.” Between 100 and 110 people were crammed into a single box car. “It was standing room only.” There they stood for four days and four nights. “On May 19, 1944 we arrived in Germany,” Auschwitz-Birkenan. “We came to the gate where PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDREW SCHOOL the doctor of death, Dr. Holocaust survivor Eva Olsson, middle, poses for a photo with Medow, left, and Josef Mengele, stood. “He Tammy Evans following an emotional presentation to Andrew and Lamont stu- didn’t talk. He just pointed to the left or the right, dents, and community members on Tuesday, March 24. deciding who would live Michelle Pinon
and who would die.” Olsson was separated from her parents. “I tried to see my mother. I wanted to give her a hug, to tell her I loved her, to tell her I was sorry I disobeyed her.” Olsson never had the chance to say those words. Her mother was killed. “She was 48.” Olsson saw other prisoners waiting in line walking to the gas chambers. There were many mass executions. Even though her father was not executed; he was starved to death, and only lived six months after becoming a slave labourer. She believes it was the spirit of her mother that kept her alive during the darkest days, and she would not give up hope. She did whatever she could to make sure her younger sister did not die. “Her spirit was always there,” pointing to her heart, “and it still is there today.” “No amount of money can ever buy another family...I’m asking you please to never take your family for granted.” That is also why she believes that the only thing that matters in life is “when we love.” She also urged students to be compassionate. “When you feel for another person it makes you a stronger person when you grow up.” While Olsson cannot change the past, she is doing what she can to change the future, and asked the students to be cognizant of what they say and do, and think about what kind of legacy they want to leave behind. “We all learn and teach by example.”
MICHELLE PINON PHOTO
Award winning author Eva Olsson, 90, holds up one of her CD’s that were available to purchase following a special appearance at Andrew School on Tuesday, March 24.