‘The world was upside down’
Holocaust survivor shares story at remembrance service
It’s a story Hedy Bohm has told many times over the years.
She had just turned 16 years old when her and her parents were forced to board a cattle car for the Auschwitz death camp in occupied Poland during the Second World War.
“The world was upside down — until then everything seemed normal and secure, but within a few months it seemed like the whole world just stopped being what it was and became something unexpected,” said Bohm. “I was very naïve at that age, today everyone is so aware of what’s happening in the world, but don’t forget in those days there were no computers, no cellphones or television — a different world.”
Bohm, 88, was the guest speaker at the annual Yom Hashoah Holocaust Remembrance Service at the Temple Sons of Israel in Sydney on Sunday, sharing her story in painful detail of how her life was turned upside down in 1944, which brought tears to the eyes of many in attendance.
Bohm, who has called Toronto home since arriving in Canada in 1948, said at the time she had no idea what was happening.
“I understand my parents and the community were very aware of what was going on in the world, but I wasn’t sure, not any more than today’s teenagers in what’s happening in Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan,” she said.
Bohm grew up in prewar Romania, a region that later came under Hungarian control. She was an only child and when she was separated from her parents in Auschwitz, it was the first time she was without her mother.
“It happened so suddenly and the surroundings were so alien,” said Bohm. “Thinking back now, I think I was in somewhat of a shock, going through the motions of sleeping and eating and trying to stay alive.
“I knew I had to stay healthy and I had to eat the horrible soup and the food they gave us because I wanted to be reunited with my mother, whom I hoped was in a similar situation I was.” she said.
Bohm kept telling herself that once the experience had past everything would be OK and that she would be able to once again be with her mother. It was that hope that kept her alive.
“I wasn’t really aware of the murder machine of the place I was in — it was there for nothing but to kill as many of us as they could manage, daily, weekly, monthly, relentlessly,” said Bohm. “I was in camp ‘C’ and I didn’t know that practically next door to us was the place where my mother and father and thousands of children — innocent people, young and old — were taken to and murdered. If I had of known, I probably wouldn’t have kept the hope.”
Unfortunately, Bohm never did see her parents again after that. She said her parents were taken within moments after arrival and taken to the gas chamber where they were killed in hours, if not minutes.
Bohm survived AuschwitzBirkenau for three months. She was later relocated to a work camp, spending the remainder of the war as a forced labourer, producing military equipment for the Germans.
It wasn’t until after liberation that she understood what had happened.
“I was convinced if I was able to survive, so too could my mother,” said Bohm. “Only after liberation did I realize
that road they (her parents) were walking down led straight to the gas chamber.”
In April 2015, more than 70 years later, Bohm was asked to testify against a former SS officer, who had served as a guard in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
“I didn’t recognize him because I would not have been able to anyway. Who can recognize someone 70 years later, who may or may not have been seen for a blink of an eye second?” she said. “When I arrived there I had other things to worry about — I couldn’t make heads or tails of where I was or anything.”
Bohm started speaking about her experiences in recent years. She currently speaks to students at the Holocaust Education Centre in Toronto.
“As much as I wasn’t a public speaker and as much as I didn’t want to speak about it, I decided I had to because it’s important that the young generation hear it from someone who was there,” said Bohm. “Many young people are not aware of what went on.”
“It’s my belief that it’s all starting over again with the anti-Israel feelings, the lies, the accusations against Jewish people, it feels the same as in those days, people’s minds are being affected and there is so much hatred again.” she said.
Bohm, who noted this was her first visit to Cape Breton, will return to Toronto after she speaks with students at Riverview Rural High School today.