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January 31, 2003
Stories about survival
NAOMI ROZENBERG SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
More than 700 students and 100 community members from Terrace and
Stewart, B.C., had the opportunity recently to hear from two survivors
– about the atrocities of the Holocaust and about Indian residential
schools.
Robbie Waisman, a Holocaust survivor and president of the Vancouver
Holocaust Education Centre, and Willie Abrahams, a residential school
survivor, spoke to members of the Terrace community with a message
of respect and acceptance of others.
Waisman captivated his audiences with stories of his personal experiences
and memories of growing up in Poland, living as a Jew under Nazi
domination. He was 10 years old when the Nazis invaded his town
of Skarszysko, Poland. Waisman spoke about how he survived ghettoization,
forced labor, the loss of his family and finally, his liberation
from Buchenwald concentration camp when he was 14.
Abrahams is a survivor of Saint Michael's Indian residential school
in Alert Bay, B.C. He was taken from his home and sent there from
the age of 10 to 17, when it was mandatory for all Native children
to assimilate. He described how the residential school forced him
to change his culture, language and lifestyle, through a process
of physical, emotional, sexual and spiritual abuse. During his presentation,
Abrahams dedicated a traditional dance to Waisman called "Soaring
Eagles." Abrahams is well known in Terrace as an advocate on
behalf of the First Nations community and is actively involved in
the Kermode Friendship Centre.
The program also featured Romy Ritter, community relations co-ordinator
of Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), Pacific Region; master of ceremonies
Diane Collins, chief counsellor of the Kitsum Kalum Band Council;
and Mayor Jack Talstra.
Collins pointed out that "we each have a choice: to build someone
up or to tear someone down" and that "we have come a long
way in 50 years for both the Jewish and First Nations communities."
The evening program was held on Jan. 16 in the Caledonia secondary
school lecture theatre and was open to the public. A school-based
program was also held on Jan. 15 for students from Terrace and Stewart.
With funding provided by the Ministry of Canadian Heritage, the
programs were co-sponsored by the Terrace Multicultural Association,
the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, the Skeena Diversity Project,
the Kermode Friendship Centre, Caledonia secondary school and Canadian
Jewish Congress, Pacific Region. Bruce Bingham, a teacher at Caledonia,
Jane Dickson of the Terrace Multicultural Society, Alfie McDames
of the Kermode Friendship Centre and Naomi Rozenberg, from CJC,
Pacific Region, organized the programs.
For more information about CJC outreach programs, contact Ritter
at 604-257-5101 or e-mail [email protected].
Naomi Rozenberg is the anti-racism education project co-ordinator
for Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region.
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