These are Canadian Stories
Foundation aims to save the recollections of Holocaust survivors before it's too late
By Irwin Block
First published by the Montreal Gazette on June 17, 2009
Material reprinted with the express permission of Montreal Gazette Group Inc.
Most were young, strong and lucky. They made the right moves at the right time, or ended up in the Soviet Union or in a farmer's crawl space, or pretended to be Christians.
These are among the stories of the European Jews who survived the systematic slaughter of 6 million of their co-religionists by German Nazis and their collaborators during the Second World War.
An estimated 30,000 survivors immigrated to Canada, most of them settling in Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg.
But every day the last survivors are dying, and with their passing go their stories of beating the odds as a vibrant civilization was being decimated.
To get these recorded before it's too late, Montreal real-estate developer David Azrieli, himself a survivor, has, through his foundation, collected some 170 manuscripts. They are first-hand accounts by the survivors, lightly edited by the foundation for language and accuracy and published as paperback books.
Naomi Azrieli, the foundation's executive director, said the program is about more than commemorating and honouring the survivors.
"Our mission is an educational one, but also it's about tolerance and the acceptance of diversity," she said.
"There has been an incredible response from non-Jewish communities, because these are Canadian stories as well as Holocaust stories.
"They resonate with people from many different backgrounds who live in Canada."
A first series was released in 2007 and a second group of eight memoirs - five in English, three in French - was launched at receptions in Montreal last week and Toronto on Monday.
They are made available free to libraries, schools and Holocaust-education programs and at events sponsored by the foundation.
They may also be downloaded online for free at www.azrielifoundation.org
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