Youth gives Holocaust survivor faith in humanity

“Imagine being so brutalized and dehumanized that you begin to believe that you are no longer human–and in spite of all of it never lost hope of being reunited with family. Hope, a very powerful motivation,” Waisman said of his experience during the Holocaust.

Throughout the near one-hour speech, he discussed his family in Skarszysko, Poland, his time in the ghetto and how his family was inevitably split up.

Waisman’s mother was sent to Treblinka and gassed, his sister was sent to one work camp while he, his father and brothers were sent to another.

While at the camp, Waisman said his brother Abram came down with typhoid and was shot.

“Never will I forget the love I had for my brother,” he said, followed by “never will I forget the crackling sound of machine gun fire.”

The tales of horror, death and destruction followed in Waisman’s life story, which included the killing of most of his family other than his sister. However, through it all he had a clear line of thought that kept remerging—hope.

Waisman said he began to tell his story in the 1980s. He explained it was then that he realized he needed to represent the seven per cent of Jewish children that survived and help make the world a better place.

“As such I have duty and obligation to speak for those that are not here and to inoculate, particularly young people, against hatred and discrimination and when I do this I honour the 1.5 million that are not here,” he said.

According to Waisman, after the liberation, adults would say “this will never happen again,” but he pointed out genocide and discrimination is still happening across the globe today.

“We still did not learn the lesson and we still fight with one another and killings and hungry children all over the world and that is unacceptable to me, it hurts me. I’ve seen enough horrors and I though I’ve seen the end of it and I guess not,” he said.

But, by speaking publicly about his experiences to youth, he feels he’s changing lives.

This feeling could very well be true as one watched the more than 40 students line up after the presentation to meet Waisman one-on-one. Some students would ask more questions, others would say hello and many just wanted to give him a hug with tears in their eyes.

“I see … what happened here how these students have lined up to give me a hug and I think they received my message,” he said. “They now, just as I am a witness, they themselves listening to me become witnesses firsthand and they will work diligently to make this a better world and that gives me the strength to continue this noble task.”

He said he believes youth have the ability to understand the impact of the Holocaust when they meet him, with one student even going up to Waisman to let him know they’ll be telling their mother they love her as soon as they get home.

He said the more kids he meets, the more they will realize how important it is to care.

“We can’t give up. We have to remind people yes you can make a difference,” he said. “I’m encouraged by young people and I have faith in them and it gives me hope for humanity.”

Reid Braaten, 18, has actually been through Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Austria and looked at a lot of Holocaust sites to learn more.

He said hearing Waisman’s story in person left a larger impression to what he had seen earlier this year in Europe.

“I got a little emotional; it was a lot to hear. It brings up emotions and makes you wonder why anyone would want that to happen,” Braaten said, adding it gives another perspective to the devastation.

He too feels his generation can take what they’ve learned and use it for knowledge for the future.

“I enjoy life for more of what it is because of stuff like this … it makes you realize to keep your family and your friends close,” he said.

Students had a chance to ask questions during the presentation through Twitter by using the hashtag #DarkIntoLight. So many questions came through that it was actually trending at number seven in Canada.

One question that left students and teachers cheering asked what Waisman would say to Hitler if he was here today.

“I would say ‘Mr. Hitler, I won,’” Waisman said simply.

Drawing parallels to residential school healing

Waisman not only has hope for the future, but healing from the past as well.

He said he knows of all the First Nations children who went away to residential schools and never returned, something quite like what happened in Europe, and he’s travelled throughout Canada meeting some of those survivors.

“Some of them [residential school survivors] had a terrible life because they couldn’t get over the pain that they suffered and so I tell them what we, the boys of Buchenwald [Concentration Camp] 426 of us who were written off as kids that would never amount to anything … and look what we’ve accomplished,” he said citing one won a Nobel Peace Prize, with many others leading successful careers.

Waisman has received the Honorary Witness from aboriginal people for taking the time to bring healing to the First Nations community.

“I give them the impetus to go ahead and make a life. If you don’t you’re giving your perpetrators the victory because they’ve won—don’t let them win on you.”

Victor Thunderchild, a teacher at Carlton, said there is a parallel between what happened at residential schools and the Holocaust, but just not to the same extent. He said an example can be set, through Waisman’s tale of survival.

“We know what happened. What we should do is we should work with it. As he [Waisman] said, never again. With First Nations people we’d never forget, never forget what happened, but use that to continue on, continue thriving,” Thunderchild said.

At the end of the day, Thunderchild looked around the gymnasium and saw the reaction of Prince Albert’s youth from all backgrounds. He said he feels they will walk away knowing more.

“It shows the story of human survival. The fact that we can go through all of these things, but yet have that will to live.”

sstone@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahstone84

by Sarah Stone

Youth gives Holocaust survivor faith in humanity

paNOW Staff

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