Ravages of time mean Holocaust accounts are becoming rare

Survivor Howard Chandler will share his memories Tuesday at school’s speaker series

Tuesday evening may be your last chance to hear from a Holocaust survivor.

Even those who were young children during the Second World War are getting too old and frail to travel to Waterloo Region to speak about their experiences during that terrible time.

On Tuesday, however, Howard Chandler will be at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School to share his memories of life with his family, experiences in the ghetto and concentration camps, deportation and liberation.

His appearance is the first of several free public seminars on this topic every year at the school.

Chandler was born 90 years ago in Starachowice, Poland. He was 11 when the war broke out.

“We really think this may be the last one,” said Jeff Chard, head of history at the school and the organizer of the series.

“We knew this day would come, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”

Tuesday’s talk begins at 6:30 p.m. and is the first of three evenings in the series, entitled Learning Together.

Guests are asked to register in advance by emailing Chard at jeff_chard@wrdsb.ca.

This is the seventh year that Chard has organized the series. He was inspired to do it after meeting parents of his history students.

The parents were hungry for information about what their children would be learning, and about the Holocaust in particular.

So Chard organized these events for the public. They are focused on the Holocaust, but have also included discussions of related contemporary issues, such as how we should consider accepting refugees into Canada.

Hundreds of people come to the events each year.

Chard said it is very sad to see survivors pass away who have spent time and energy speaking to local audiences.

Bill Glied, a survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau and a frequent speaker, died earlier this year. He had just finished filming a documentary at the school.

Chard says to his knowledge there are no remaining Waterloo Region-based survivors who are willing to speak publicly about their experiences.

His speakers in recent years have come from the Toronto area. And increasingly, they aren’t able to make the trip, or they don’t have the energy to speak any longer.

Chard says the series will continue, but it will be the children and grandchildren of the survivors who will take over the job of bearing witness.

On April 24, the session will focus on liberation and resiliency in the aftermath of the Holocaust, including some survivors’ journeys to Canada and how they assimilated.

Michelle Fishman, a granddaughter of four Holocaust survivors, and education co-ordinator of the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre in Toronto, will discuss how survivors of the Holocaust rebuilt their lives.

Also, Jesse and Samuel Buckstein will speak about their grandfather, Oscar, who was a survivor.

There is no event May 1. The final event of the series is May 8 and the speaker will be Carson Phillips, managing director of the Neuberger Centre.

A tribute to survivor Bill Glied is also being planned for this date, Chard said.