As we observe Holocaust Education Month this November, the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s Shoah Committee invites you to join us for A Shield Against Hate: Holocaust Education for the New Era. Nov. 26, 2024 at 7 pm, Ben Franklin Place Atrium, 101 Centrepointe Drive.
This event will feature the Yad Vashem exhibit Stars Without a Heaven, which tells the story of children in the Holocaust. We are honoured to have Dr. Agnes Klein, a child survivor, share her personal story and reflections.
Dr. Agnes Klein spent part of the Second World War as a hidden child in a village. For many years, she did not consider herself a survivor, having lost much of her family in the Holocaust. Her late husband was a survivor of Auschwitz, Dachau, and Buna, and endured several death marches. It was only after his passing that, at the urging of fellow survivor Elly Bollegraaf, she agreed to speak publicly about the Holocaust.
In today’s age of rising discrimination, Dr. Klein emphasizes the importance of sharing these stories to help the world understand that the Holocaust did not occur in isolation — it was driven by a deeply ingrained concept of dehumanizing the “other.”
