Nazi defeat in France recalled with chilling testimonies during 80th commemoration anniversary
Here's a fresh take on the topic:
Remembering the Terror: Survivors of WWII Older Than Ever, Yet Their Stories Remain Vital
As France gears up to remember the 80th anniversary of the Nazi surrender, the remaining survivors of World War II share their heart-wrenching memories of fear, deprivation, and persecution during the brutal German occupation of the country.
In 1940, Nazi forces swept across France, forcing millions, including 15-year-old Geneviève Perrier, to flee their homes like refugees on a biblical exodus. By June, France had surrendered, and life under the oppressive regime began for the young girl.
Three years later, 15-year-old Esther Senot found herself in the horrific grasp of the Nazis, arrested by French police and sent to the notorious concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, where she narrowly survived 17 months of unspeakable cruelty. A few years older, 19-year-old Ginette Kolinka met a similar fate, also ending up in Auschwitz-Birkenau during April 1944.
Now approaching the century mark, these remarkable women courageously continue to share their stories, determined to keep the memory of the war alive and to pass its haunting lessons on to future generations.
Perrier, now 99, recalls the terrifying scene of fleeing her village on a bicycle with her mother, carrying only a small travel bag while others ran from the advancing German troops in desperate search of safety. As bombs roared overhead, she witnessed the silent prayer of a helpless civilian population.
After hidden weeks in a French town under the collaborationist Vichy regime, Perrier braved the harsh Nazi occupation that awaited her upon her return home. The Resistance was strong in her area, but she was warned against joining, with her mother fearing for her life.
To combat the darkness, Perrie found solace in the simple act of singing at church, raising her voice to the heavens in opposition to the enemy that had consumed her world.
When the Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, Perrier, like many others, struggled to believe the liberation was at hand. As the French 2nd Division, armed with American tanks, marched into her village, she could finally feel hope as they drove out her oppressors.
Esther Senot, 97, has built a life around keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive. Born to a Jewish family that had fled Poland for France, Senot was only 15 years old when she was arrested by French police and shipped off to Auschwitz-Birkenau in September 1943. There, she bore witness to the madness that unfolded behind the camps' ominous walls.
After a harrowing 17 months, Senot returned to Paris, a hollow shell of the girl she once was. The city had become a gathering place for the broken remnants of survivors, with the Lutetia hotel acting as a temporary shelter as they desperately searched for the loved ones they had lost during the war.
Senot's family was wiped out during the Holocaust, with her mother, father, and six siblings among the six million Jews and other persecuted groups murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. Today, she struggles with the difficult reality that so few remained to recount the horrors they endured.
"France had been liberated for a year, and people didn't expect us to return with the whole world's misery on our shoulders," Senot lamented. "It was unbearable, the indifference."
Like Senot, Ginette Kolinka has spent her life working to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive, using her experiences to educate future generations. When she walked the streets of Paris after the war, she marveled at how few people looked at her and saw a survivor.
"You could see the disbelief in their eyes," she said. "And then they would get angry. They said, 'But you've come back in such small numbers, what happened to the others?'"
Kolinka has spent two decades working to ensure that the stories of those lost in the Holocaust are never forgotten. She knows that the weight of history presses heavily on her shoulders, but she continues to speak out, reminding the world of the precious lessons that can be learned from the darkness of the past.
"What we have to keep in mind is that everything that happened was because one man hated the Jews," Kolinka said. "Hatred, for me, is dangerous. As soon as we say 'that one is like this, that one is like that,' it already proves that we make a difference when, in reality, no matter whether we are Jews, Muslims, Christians, Blacks, we are human beings."
[1] AP News - "Holocaust survivors, forever young in spirit, share memories"[2] Holocaust Memorial Museum - "Auschwitz-Birkenau"[3] Yad Vashem - "Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust"[4] USHMM - "Vichy France and the Holocaust"
- In Toronto, a news article was published under the headline, "Crimes of War: A Close Look at the Vichy Regime," delving into the role France played during the Nazi occupation and the resistance efforts.
- A commemoration ceremony reminiscent of war-and-conflicts times took place in a Toronto park, where politics from general-news outlets gathered to honor survivors of the Holocaust and their courage in the face of adversity.
- After the ceremony, news coverage featured an elderly Holocaust survivor, who immigrants from war-torn countries sought out for advice on adapting to life in a new land while carrying the weight of their past experiences.
- A special issue dedicated to war-and-conflicts news was released, featuring survivor stories from the Holocaust, details of Nazi wars, and accounts of revolutions in Vichy France, reminding readers of the impact of war on individuals and societies.
- Efforts have been made across the world to combat the negligence of history by honoring Holocaust survivors through interviews, documentaries, and exhibitions, ensuring that the lessons from war-and-conflicts, like those of the Holocaust, are never forgotten.
