By Zoltan Fried
I was very pleased to participate in the special program presented by CHES to honor the inauguration of the National Holocaust Monument on September 27th, 2017, at Library and Archives Canada. I clearly remember the evening as a meaningful and moving event. I consider the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa to be dedicated to my family’s memory, too. I am proud to be a member of CHES and to be involved in two very important and meaningful CHES projects, Through Their Eyes and the National Holocaust Monument IWalk App.
My family members were born and lived in Sighet, Romania, the same place where Elie Wiesel was born and lived. His family and mine lived through the same terrible events.
On my father’s side, I lost my grandmother, two aunts, and their children; all died in Auschwitz. My father survived hard labour in a working detachment. His brother and two sisters survived the deportation camps.
On my mother’s side, I lost both grandparents and a young uncle. My mother and three sisters survived deportation to Dachau. Their brother survived hard labour in a working detachment.
My parents emigrated to Canada in 1976 and lived happily here until their deaths.
I want to share a letter from my aunt Etti, the sister of my mother, Baily, and addressed to me and my son Brian, who was born in 1990 in Montreal. The letter describes the ghetto and deportation events that occurred in Sighet in 1944. She wrote it as a response to my inquiry about the Holocaust events in Sighet (I contacted her because my mother could not express herself well). She also wrote the letter with the intention that it be passed to my son, and so it will never be forgotten.
The testimony of my Holocaust survivor aunt is of value to my research going forward with the Through Their Eyes project in memory of my family and in recognition of the importance of Holocaust Education and I am pleased to share it here.
