{"id":5976,"date":"2015-12-09T18:19:55","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T23:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/jewishstudies\/?p=5976"},"modified":"2021-03-01T18:22:32","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T23:22:32","slug":"holocaust-stories-echo-perils-of-current-refugee-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/jewishstudies\/2015\/holocaust-stories-echo-perils-of-current-refugee-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Holocaust stories echo perils of current refugee crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Vera Gara told students at Cairine Wilson Secondary School it was important to help the Syrian refugees now on their way to Canada, her words carried more weight than any politician\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Gara, 82, knows what it\u2019s like to flee her home, to lose everything, to face death and then rebuild a new life. An Austrian Jew, as a girl Gara spent a year in the Nazi concentration camps of Bergen-Belsen in Germany and Theresienstadt, north of Prague. Her father was beaten by a Nazi sympathizer and died of his injuries in 1945. The family business \u2014 Pick Salami \u2014 was stolen from them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to tell you that I\u2019m very much for the Syrian refugees,\u201d she told students. \u201cI only wish it had been the same in 1938.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was in 1938 that many western countries, Canada included, turned away the MS St. Louis, a passenger liner carrying nearly 1,000 Jews and other refugees from Europe fleeing Nazi persecution. Most of the passengers ended up back in Europe where hundreds would die in death camps.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people are suffering we have to help them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Gara and two other Holocaust survivors \u2014 Tibor Egervari and Elly Bollegraaf \u2014 and three children of survivors \u2014 Rubin Friedman, Marion Silver and Mina Cohn \u2014 visited the school Wednesday on the third day of Hanukkah to give students a chance to hear about history from those who had lived through it. The program was offered through the Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship at Carleton University.<\/p>\n

\"Ayman

Ayman Ahmed, centre, and other students listen as Holocaust survivor Vera Gara shares her story at Cairine Wilson Secondary School in Orl\u00e9ans<\/p><\/div>\n

Gara cited presidential hopeful Donald Trump\u2019s call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States as a warning of the dangers that still exist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have to love each other, but we do have to tolerate each other,\u201d she said. \u201cNow we have this person in the United States \u2014 Mr. Trump \u2014 who is saying the same things. The hatred is still there.<\/p>\n

The message came through loud and clear for Ayman Ahmed, a Grade 11 religious studies student.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistory is repeating itself,\u201d Ahmed said. \u201cIf she\u2019s saying that \u2014 and she\u2019s lived through it \u2014 then how can you deny it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tibor Egervari was just a child in Hungary during the war and the family had lived more or less a normal life until March 1944, when the Nazis turned their attention to Hungarian Jews. Egervari was hidden by a Protestant family and survived the war. His father and brother did not.<\/p>\n

Asked one student: What is the most important lesson we can learn from the Holocaust?<\/p>\n

\u201cI would tell you to be very, very careful,\u201d Egervari said. \u201cI\u2019d tell you not to believe in any rhetoric that tries to identify people by what they are. What matters in life is not what you are, it\u2019s what you do.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe careful of anything that can lead to dictatorship \u2026 people who say they know the truth. Think for your yourself. Learn things for yourself. Then make your own decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

For teacher Kerra Wadley, who teaches history and food science (her class put together a kosher lunch for guests), the day was a rare chance for students to experience history firsthand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next generation of kids won\u2019t have this experience,\u201d Wadley said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be up to this generation to tell the stories. They understand how important it is to get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong> Ottawa Citizen<\/a>
\nBy:<\/strong> Blair Crawford<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Vera Gara told students at Cairine Wilson Secondary School it was important to help the Syrian refugees now on their way to Canada, her words carried more weight than any politician\u2019s. Gara, 82, knows what it\u2019s like to flee her home, to lose everything, to face death and then rebuild a new life. An […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHolocaust stories echo perils of current refugee crisis - Max and Tessie Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When Vera Gara told students at Cairine Wilson Secondary School it was important to help the Syrian refugees now on their way to Canada, her words carried\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/jewishstudies\/2015\/holocaust-stories-echo-perils-of-current-refugee-crisis\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mirkasnopkowska\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/jewishstudies\/2015\/holocaust-stories-echo-perils-of-current-refugee-crisis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/jewishstudies\/2015\/holocaust-stories-echo-perils-of-current-refugee-crisis\/\",\"name\":\"Holocaust stories echo perils of current refugee crisis - 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