On Jan. 20, before a crowd of 200 Drayton Heights Public School students (grades 4 through 8) and 20 parents, Holocaust survivor Dr. Eva Olsson used her personal experience to deliver a message of eliminating hatred and bullying.
Olsson, 85, now of Bracebridge, began her presentation by challenging students to recall if they or someone they knew had ever been bullied. Virtually every hand in the room went up, including those of parents and teachers. Olsson then asked students if they or someone they knew had ever been a bystander.
It was at this point in the presentation Olsson opened the door to her personal history, explaining that she had been bullied simply because she was a Jew.
“Hitler could not have done what he did without the help of bystanders,” she said in a soft-spoken yet poignant manner, which she maintained throughout the presentation.
“[And] bullies cannot do what they do without the help of bystanders.”
Olsson was raised as a Hasidic Jew in the slums of Szatmar, Hungary. At the age of 19, she and her family, along with hundreds of other Hungarian Jews, were rounded up on trains and transported to Auschwitz-Berkinow.
It was there Olsson and her sister Fradel were separated from the rest of their family, most of whom she never saw again, including her mother, father and brothers.
Olsson did not sugar coat her presentation, but rather explained in detail the atrocities she had to endure, reminding students it all happened because they were Jews.
But lest she be a perpetrator of hatred herself, she explained she has forgiven her oppressors because she recognized that failing to do so would be like another form of hatred.
Olsson reminded students that not all Germans were Nazis and not all Nazis were Germans. She also noted neighbouring Bulgaria refused to be bystanders and did not allow the deportation of their Jewish countrymen.
“Do not be bystanders,” Olsson urged, reminding students hatred helped murder 1.5 million children (of 11 million total killed during WWII) and hatred also causes bullying.
She also reminded students to be mindful of the way they conduct themselves not only at school and in the playground, but also at home and not to take their families for granted.
“Yes, there are lots of challenges in family life but it is not the challenges that hurt us but rather the way we deal with them,” she said. “Challenges are a part of life. Talk to one another, forgive one another, love one another.”
Throughout her presentation, Olsson displayed not a hint of bitterness or anger, explaining her faith sustained her throughout her time in captivity and throughout her entire life.
She noted that many people, including her own, have blamed God for the Holocaust, but she emphatically maintains it is people who have choices and it’s people who kill.
After a 50-year period of silence, Olsson began making presentations to local schools, churches and organizations in 1996 hoping to spread the message that it’s possible to survive the worst life has to throw at people. She also hopes others will join her in her campaign against racism.
Her mission, which has spread nationally internationally, is one of hope and survival; one of tolerance, forgiveness and acceptance.
She has made over 2,400 presentations to over a million and a half listeners, including appearances before Queens Park and the United Nations.
In 2008 was awarded the Order of Ontario, and she has authored two books: Remembering Forever: A Journey of Darkness and Light and Unlocking the Doors. She has also participated in a documentary entitled Stronger than Fire: the Eva Olsson Story.
