Holocaust survivor shares his life's story
Pinchas Gutter gave presentation to Islands Consolidated and Digby high school students and staff
The Flag of Israel flew next to the Canadian flag at the entrance of the Island Consolidated School in honor of a very special guest speaker.
On Nov. 5, students from Islands Consolidated School and Digby Regional High School were given the unique privilege to listen to, and engage with, holocaust survivor and world-renowned lecturer Pinchas Gutter.
Gutter, a gifted speaker and storyteller, had the young crowd enthralled and at times in tears as he shared his story of survival of one of the worst atrocities in history, the Holocaust.
For many young people, the Holocaust is just something people read about in history as direct connections to it dwindle as the years pass on.
But Gutter is living history and his passionate words brought to life the words on the pages of a history book.
A sombre and heartbreaking reminder of what Gutter and other went through because of the Holocaust is included on the front cover of his book ‘Memories In Focus.’ The cover photo includes a golden braid and a faceless girl, who is representative of his twin sister Sabina. She was murdered by the Nazis when she was 11 years old.
Gutter says he has a photographic memory but during his presentation, as he spoke of Sabina, he told the audience that the image of his sister’s golden braid running towards his mother when they arrived at the death camp Majdanek was the last time he saw Sabina.
Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter speaking at Islands Consolidated School on Nov. 5.
Now he has no clear memory of the face of his beloved twin sister.
Only the image of the braid remains.
This once-in-a-lifetime event for the students and community to hear Gutter’s story was made possible, in part, by Islands Consolidated teacher Joan O’Neil.
She coordinated with The Azrieli Foundation’s Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program and the Atlantic Jewish Council to make this
event happen.
Edna LeVine from the Atlantic Jewish Council and Elin Beaumont from the Azrieli Foundation were also instrumental in planning this presentation at Islands Consolidated School.
After the presentation Gutter took the time to talk with individual students and sign copies his memoirs ‘Memories In Focus,’ which was provided to each student free of cost thanks to The Azrieli Foundation.
The book was well-received by the students and many of the kids were seen reading it on the bus ride home.
The students in attendance were also able to view a beautiful and educational display of Jewish artifacts on loan from the Yarmouth County Museum and Archives arranged by Joe Bishara the Equity Consultant for TCRCE. The artifacts were from the Jewish Synagogue in Yarmouth that closed in 2006.
The Holocaust was the Second World War genocide of the European Jews. Between 1941 and 1945, across Germanoccupied Europe, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews, which was around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population.