Jewish Holocaust survivor Eva Olsson wears a cross whenever she speaks at a Catholic school or church.
The 90-year-old advocate of forgiveness and acceptance says it was given to her by a young Canadian of German descent from a school she had spoken at as he apologized for what his ancestors had done to her, her family and her people.
“It wasn’t you,” she told him. “You don’t need to apologize for anything.”
Moved by her presentation, he insisted on giving her the cross that was the last thing his mother gave him before she died. Olsson didn’t want to take his mother’s final gift to him, but he would have it no other way.
She wears it now when she speaks at Catholic schools in honour of that young man’s wish and in memory of his late mother.
Olsson, who came to Canada with the husband she’d met in Sweden after the war, has lived in Canada for 64 years and her son and three grandchildren are all Canadians. Sadly, a drunk driver killed her husband when he was only 35.
Olsson is a Holocaust survivor, but for 50 years she remained silent about her experiences.
“Why?” she asked throughout those years. If she bled, her blood was red like everybody else’s, she told herself. And wasn’t Jesus a Jew?
But she found no healing in remaining silent. Since 1996, she has been sharing her story so people will know it is possible to survive the worst life has to throw at them. She has spoken in more than 3,000 schools, churches, meeting halls, conference rooms, colleges and universities.
Her son helps her arrange her travels, but she travels alone. God is her companion. No one else could keep up with her she laughs.
Olsson addressed 730 elementary students of the Battlefords on the morning of Tuesday, May 5 at John Paul II Collegiate in North Battleford and to 750 high school students in the afternoon, hosted by Light of Christ Catholic Schools. Tuesday evening, Olsson spoke in an open public presentation at St. Vital Church in Battleford.
Olsson’s story is at once heart-breaking and uplifting. The honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and author uses the Holocaust and her experiences in it as a springboard to discuss key issues: The power of hate and the need to stop it wherever it occurs; The importance of not being a bystander when bad things are happening; The importance of having compassion and respect for self and others; And teaching children by example.
Olsson was born in Hungary to a poor Hasidic Jewish family. Seventy-one years ago, the entire family was given two hours to pack their bags, and were marched to a railway station on orders that they were to go to Germany to work in a brick factory.
In the boxcars, it was standing room only. People were dying for lack of air. It was four days before they arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau, what they believed to be a brick factory, and came under the scrutiny of the “Angel of Death,” Dr. Josef Mengele.
Olsson was holding one of her nieces by the hand. Other prisoners urged her to give the child to an older woman, so finally she let her mother take the little girl’s hand. Olsson and her younger sister were waived to the right. Her mother, and any woman with a child, went to the left.
Suddenly, traumatically, her mother was gone, with no chance to say goodbye.
Her father was sent to a slave labour camp where he died of starvation.
Olsson and her sister were shipped first to Dusseldorf where they shifted bricks, then to an ammunition factory before being marched back to a bombed out camp at Bergen-Belsen where “living conditions” were horrific and 104,000 people died.
Four hours before all the prisoners were due to be shot by their captors, who knew they were about to lose the war, Canadian and British soldiers arrived. Olsson had been saved from death, but she would never be free of the memories.
Following Eva Olsson’s presentation, Theresa Eppich’s Grade 5 students were inspired to write letters of thanks to the 90-year-old Holocaust survivor. Here are some excerpts:
"Thank you for telling me to never use the word "hate", because nobody deserves to be hated. I'm giving my parents a hug and telling them I love them. i really admire how you told your story with so much confidence. I am sorry you lost all your family members. It must have been very hard to lose them."
"Kids in my class have been talking about you. About how AWESOME you are! It's amazing that someone your age flew in from Ontario just to talk to us! You must really care! I enjoyed listening to you because your story was just so interesting! World War II was a terrible time and place. And the Nazis and Hitler were horrible people! It was the worst thing any human could go through. You're lucky you never got killed by them! You are right. Bullying is so bad and noone deserves it."
"I learned a lot from you that you should NEVER say the word "HATE" and say I strongly dislike. You are so brave. Eva, you are now my role model. You are brave, happy and courageous. You are the most inspiring person I have ever met or heard."
"I really enjoyed your presentation. Thank you! I learned about your interesting life. I loved the part about your mother. You were really brave to share something like that. I would never have the guts to do that. I also remember that you said DON'T use the word HATE, because HATE is a very strong word. And to always hug your guardians and tell them you love them. You taught me just because someone bullies you it doesn't make it ok for you to bully. Your message was so strong and I adore it. Keep doing what you are doing."
What happened to Olsson, and millions of others, happened because bystanders did not act, and she hopes her story will stop it from happening again.
