Treasuring Our Survivors

Contributing authors Ruth Wade, Rita Benn and Fran Berg just returned from the World Federation of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants that was held in the Toronto area. The meeting spanned three days where new learnings occured and new connections forged between the young and old attending from Canada, the US, Europe and even China and Australia. Ruth and Rita ran a workshop to help survivors, 2Gs and 3Gs mine their memories to begin to craft their life stories. We were also privileged to not only listen to clinical psychologist Irit Felsen's amazing lecture on the intergenerational impact of anti-semistism but to also watch Irene Butter share her riveting story of survival during the Holocaust to a rapt audience. A special highlight was spending precious time in close community with her and other  Survivor friends like ninety-year old Renee Grosman. The resilience of this Survivor generation continues to inspire us to rise above present moments of despair in current events and to hold true to the hope that we can create a world where peace, freedom, and tolerance will one day co-exist amongst all peoples and nations.