" I cannot change the past; with your help we can change the future. The responsibility is yours."
This
is the message Eva Olsson delivered to our students at our assembly on
November 11 when she shared her life experience with us. She referenced
her childhood, her memories of being a Holocaust survivor and as a
refugee and immigrant to show us the real costs of racism, hatred,
intolerance and denial. Our students' response, spoken and unspoken,
showed that they heard her message clearly.
Mrs. Olsson was born
in 1924 to a poor family in Szatmar, Hungary. The outbreak of WW II
plunged Eva into the heart of the Holocaust - concentration camps, slave
labour factories, disease and the death of millions including most of
her family. Through it all, she focussed on survival. These experiences
led to her strong convictions of the importance of acceptance and
tolerance...beginning in 1996, she has made it her mission to tell her
story wherever people want to hear it, but especially to young people.
She has made over 4500 appearances since in the hopes of sharing her message to young people! Her visit to our school was an extremely important part of our Remembrance Day experience for our students.