Yesterday I had the great honour of going to a Hollocaust Symposium where we were able to talk to the few surviving members of the Hollocaust who live in Canada.

The lady I got to talk to, Fanny Wedro, was 12 years old when World War Two broke out and, amazingly enough, she doesn't look a day over 50 (although she is now 76). She told me how unlike Auschwitz and Dachau etc, her ghetto/camp was not documented at all. The only way that we know it realy happened is that she has the markings to prove it.

The ghetto was set up in what is now Ukraine. She remembers the day that the Russians occupied it in 1939 and the day that they were told to run away with the Russians because the Germans were coming. Her father had told the Russian officer that "it is far more easier to die by the sword then by hunger...we are staying here". Little did they know that it was because of their choice to stay where they were that cost her the lives of both of her parents as well as almost all those around her.

When she was 14, her father told her that he was joining the "Jewish resistance", a group of men who were going to fight against the Germans. He left and she has never seen him again. She was 14. A few weeks later it was "her turn". She and her mother were brought along with about 200 others, to the center of the ghetto where the mass killings took place. Fanny looked to her side and saw her friend standing infront of her mother, just as she was. "Let's hold hands so they will kill us first and then we won't have to see our mothers die". That was her plan. But, for some reason, I don't think it was either good luck or bad, the SS guard pointed to her and asked how old she was. Before she could answer that she was only 14, her mother told the guard that she was 16. This saved her life.

She was sent to a building where she was forced to watch the "elimination process", she called it. She vividly remembers: "There was a lady, who we all knew was a little insane, but she was still part of our community. She had a two year old child who was asleep in her arms. When it came time for her to be judged, the SS made her dance and sing 'heil Hitler', while they tossed the baby around like it was a toy. When the woman tried to catch the baby (a sense of pig in the middle) one SS guard grabbed the baby by the foot and hit it against the wall, killing it." She told us how she was forced to stare blankly ahead, if she showed any emotion, she would have been killed.

The next day she was taken, along with a few others, to the forrest where she was forced to cover three open graves, one each for women, men, and children. On the side of the grave for women, she saw her mothers scarf.

She then goes on to tell how she would sneak out from the ghetto before dawn and hide out in the gardens of the churches near by and return under the cover of night. Finally one night she left and didn't go back. She found a group of a few Jewish 'rebels' who were hiding out in the forrest, using "very primative ways" to survive. They would listen to the ground, telling them how far away the guards were. Because there was very little water, they were forced to dring sap from trees, after which they would soak the bark in the swamp-like water and wrap it around their feet to make shoes. She lived that way for 18 months, fighting off lice, typhus and many other diseases, just to keep the promise she made to a non-Jewish neighbor of hers who had taken her in for a night. "I will survive this", she told her. And she did.

Her town of 5,000 always held community pass-overs, where everyone would get together and celebrate the holliday. After being liberated by the Russian army, they held the same celebration, only 15 of the 5,000 people attended. Of her class, only 3 survived.

The experience is something that I cannot and WILL NOT ever forget. An experience like this will not be able to happen much longer, even the survivors who were children during the war are now in their later stages of their lives. It's unbelievable what they had to go through, no book or film will ever compare to the first-hand experience that I have had the honour to recieve. Fanny closed the session with a phrase that will forever be remembered by me, as I'm sure it will be remembered by all those who were at the Symposium:
"You are the youth of the world, the driving force of everything that we will do in the future. Make the world better. Never, NEVER allow anything like this to happen again. Tell my story, keep the memory alive, but never let it happen again."

DUCE

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"Tolerance has never brought civil war; intolerance has covered the earth with carnage" Voltaire
"War is the fruit of man's depravity; it is a convulsive and violent sickness of the body politic.." Diderot

In 1999, I got the chance to hear Primo Levi speak at IU. It was especially interesting since I was reading his book, "Survival in Auschwitz", that same semester, and got to ask him a few questions. The same school year, another survivor spoke to my Hollocaust class. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name or place, as my notes are stored at my folks' house. It was an extremely interesting (but depressing) semester.

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Living History at http://oldreliable9_47.tripod.com

I've also read Primo Levi's book. I found it really really amazing. In the movie we watched at the symposium (The World At War Seires, part 20. Genocide) they actually interview Levi and many others....a great film, but, as you said Doc, quite depressing.

DUCE

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"Tolerance has never brought civil war; intolerance has covered the earth with carnage" Voltaire
"War is the fruit of man's depravity; it is a convulsive and violent sickness of the body politic.." Diderot

Duce,

Thank you for that report. Amazing what people had to endure and witness to survive at times. And of course, she was one of the few to survive. It is absolutely insane. My brother in law's father is an Auschwitz survivor but never talks about it. I have had the honor to listen to several camp survivors through the years. One came to my highschool. Another was my parents neighbour. In fact, I believe he was at Sachsenhausen, which was mentioned in a earlier thread. He passed away a couple of months ago.

The most stunning encounter I had was when I was just chilling out on a park bench in Amsterdam one sunny day and struck up a conversation with a man sitting next to me. After a while, when he found out about my interest in the war, he started telling me about his experiences in Mauthausen. We sat there talking for the best part of three hours. After he left, it took me quite a while to get a sense of reality back to get myself up and go back home. It was hard to shake off that mixed feeling of sheer awe and profound depression...

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

Exactly - well stated!

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Living History at http://oldreliable9_47.tripod.com

I couldn't agree more Stevin and Doc.

As she was telling us her story I was in complete shock, and, by looking quickly around the room it was obvious that everyone else there felt the same.

Even after two days, I still havn't come to complete terms as to what went on...don't think I ever will. I thought before that by reading the books and watching the movies I had a pretty good idea as to what went on during the Hollocaust. After Wednesday, I realized that I only read/viewed the tip of the ice berg (what a horrible cliche). It still amazes me what she went through, and it probably forever will.

DUCE

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"Tolerance has never brought civil war; intolerance has covered the earth with carnage" Voltaire
"War is the fruit of man's depravity; it is a convulsive and violent sickness of the body politic.." Diderot

I recently had the honor of hearing an Auschwitz survivors' testimony at my college. He was a Polish Jew.

I have been reading the book, "Masters of Death" and wonder just how many ways the Einsatzgruppen experimented with ways to kill. One account, which I found odd, was when Jews were made to climb into a pit which was filled with quicklime. Next, water (may have been another chemical as well-can't remember) was added which caused the chemical to act as a powerful caustic which literally boiled the unfortunate victims to death.

I recently watched a documentary which gave reports of the Japenese, after infecting their victims with various diseases, performing autopsies on the victims without giving them any anesthesia. The case material was consequently acquired by the U.S. with the promise of not bringing to justice in post-war trials those responsible for the atrocities. Apparently, the information was of great medical importance to us to not deem it necessary to make these people pay for their evil-doings.

Although this subject is very grim to say the least, I would like to know if anyone can point me towards any reading material of this graphic nature.

Hi guys,

Duce, I relate to your sentiments. What got me interested in the war in the very first place and got me to read about it when I wasabout 10, was when a former resistance man came to our school as part of a living history lesson and told us about the war. I was absolutely in awe and dumbfounded. I might have read books about it then but they never really tickled my interest to that extent. After that it was the flood for me. My parents also took me to a military cemetery and that also made a very big impression.

It is true, nothing can take the place of listening to people who have lived through those times and are willing to talk about it. That is why I got into corresponding with vets. Almost became an obsession at one point.

Wilcongr, About 15 years ago I had a very short correspondance with a US vet that was captured by the Japanese. He was subjected to some of the experiements you write about in a well known camp in Manchuria. Actually, his wife wrote the letter(s) to me. He had read a request of mine in a Vet Magazine that I wanted to correspond with veterans and he replied because he wanted his story known. He also included a newspaper clipping from his local paper about him and his wartime career. I will try and look it up, scan and post it here when I find it.

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

Nice information, Duce! Very interesting, not nice at all.

I actually have a friend, she acts with me in "Jesuschrist Superstar". Her great grandparents were Russian Jews who abandoned Russia after 1917 and moved towards Poland. They incredibly survived the next six years and they moved to Mexico then... It was very emotive when we talk about our grandparents' experiences. Mine and her great grandparents...

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"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun