It’s been nearly 80 years since soldiers from the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front opened the gates of at the chilling Auschwitz concentration camp, freeing thousands of Jews imprisoned by the Nazis during the Second World War.
The son of one of those survivors is now on a mission to ensure what happened in that death camp never happens again.
That important day, which occurs on Jan 27, will this year mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland — the largest of the German Nazi concentration camps — where more than 1.1 million men, women and children died during the Holocaust.
Each year, Canadians and people all over the world take this opportunity to remember the victims of those atrocities and reflect on the dangers of antisemitism.
On Thursday, Barrie resident Peter Weinwurm, son of Holocaust survivor Helena Weinwurm, was at Barrie Public Library’s Painswick branch to speak in remembrance of the victims — as well as to read excerpts from a book, Margareta Biela, written about his mother’s experiences as a young girl who miraculously survived Auschwitz.
In an interview with BarrieToday, he explained that the presentation included the personal story of his mother, but also focused on understanding the Holocaust itself.
Weinwurm also addressed what has changed since and some of the lessons people have learned in the years following the Holocaust.
Barrie Public Library chief executive officer Lauren Jessop said the local library is more than just books, which is why events and presentations such as Weinwurm’s are so important to host.
“It is a space for reflection, education and lived experiences. Through events like International Holocaust Remembrance Day and other meaningful community programs, we strive to foster understanding, connection and inclusion for all,” she said.
This was Weinwurm’s first time making a public presentation. He told BarrieToday he was feeling confident after putting in so much time “reflecting” and preparing for the event, which saw 28 people attend.
“I promised my mother that one day I would do it as a continuation of the generation of Holocaust survivors. We are responsible, the children of survivors,” he said.
“My mother wanted to be heard. (She) always wanted to remind people ‘never again.’ I think there were many good reasons she was doing it and I witnessed many presentations," Weinwurm added. "I realized her journey to be the witness and to educate, especially young people, was very obvious in the case of her life.”
She died in 2015 at age 90.
Weinwurm’s mother was 16 when she was taken by the Nazis to the concentration camp in Poland. She spent three years there before being saved by Russian and American troops, he said.
Continuing her work is extremely important to him, he added.
“Humanity should learn from mistakes which humans did to humans. Those mistakes should be learned from historic facts, why it happened and how we can prevent it from happening again," Weinwurm said.
"We shouldn’t be ignorant about the future. The future is a significant teacher and what I am learning is that we are not learning enough. We are forgetting.”
The signs that it could one day happen again are already there, believes Weinwurm.
“When people are not tolerant of each other then they are willing to go so far as killing. Then killing itself becomes approved, which is exactly what happened in Germany," he said. "We should really pay attention to those signs and we should realize it’s about more than the minorities. Eventually it’s about ourselves.
"It isn’t just about Jews. It’s about any group that is unjustly hated by other groups. The history of Nazism should teach us that barbarianism is possible if we don’t pay enough attention to those historic facts," Weinwurm added.
Weinwurm is hopeful that people, especially the younger generation, will continue to learn from the past.
“There is definitely a growing need for educating young people. They should really pay attention to those historic aspects and realize that, unfortunately, it can happen again," he said. "Maybe not to the extent as happened during the Second World War, but we already see signs of it.
"We need to be able to distinguish the truth from the lies and we need to be able to be guided by the principle of morality. If you lose that moral guidance, it’s going to happen again.”
