Holocaust survivor, author and acclaimed public speaker Eva Olsson has formally received the Order of Canada.
The 99-year-old Bracebridge resident received her award on Oct. 28 during a ceremony with Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. Olsson was originally named as a recipient in 2021 but the ceremony was postponed due to COVID.
Created in 1967, the Order of Canada recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. More than 7,000 people from all sectors of society have been invested in the Order. Those who bear the Order’s iconic snowflake insignia have changed our nation’s measure of success and, through the sum of their accomplishments, have helped us build a better Canada.
From Crestwood Preparatory College’s Oral History Project:
Eva Olsson grew up in Hungary, born into a Jewish family in Satu Mare. She remembers the family’s Hasidic traditions and the poverty and simplicity of her early life.
Like other Hungarian Jews, Eva was comparatively isolated from the war raging all around them; they heard rumours and such, but as Hungary was allied with the Axis powers, day-to-day life was relatively unchanged. That was not the case after May 1944 though when Nazi Germany occupied its Hungarian ally, and Hungarian Jews immediately felt the weight of the Shoah (the Hebrew word for catastrophe).
Eva and her family were now inside the ghetto, and within a matter of weeks, the deportations began. The family walked seven kilometres and were boarded onto the waiting boxcars, where the brutal conditions were unrelenting for four days. They arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau and the family was separated, with most going to the gas chambers and crematoria.
Eva and her sisters were selected for slave labour, and after spending a few weeks in the camp, they were sent to Dusseldorf, and then Essen, Germany, to work in the Krupp factory system. Eva spent some time there during the winter of 1944-45, and was present during the day-and-night bombing that made up the Allies’ Ruhr bombing campaign. Bombs eventually destroyed the part of the factory where Eva was working, so she and the other forced labourers were herded into a hole in the ground, before being forced onto the boxcars again.
This time she was sent to Belsen, which would be her final destination. She spent several months there, barely surviving starvation and disease, when the British liberated the camp in April 1945.
That is when her emotional and physical recovery began, and during this time she made the decision to relocate herself and her sister to Sweden. There she would meet Rudi, who she would eventually marry, and a few years later the two made the journey to Canada, where they settled and raised their family.
Eva did not speak about her experiences for many years; in fact, it was only when her grandchildren were old enough – fifty years after the fact – that she began to open up, first to the grandchildren’s classes, and then to audiences all over Canada, and even at the United Nations.
Eva has a passion for social justice and her mission is to maintain the legacy and the memory of those who were murdered during the Shoah.
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Erin Jones says
The unimaginable horror of the Holocaust is the result of antisemitism–no different today than then. But you have gained a victory, Mrs. Olssson. A long life well-lived doesn’t make up for the horrible brutality shown to you and your family; but it shows those who would do these things, that they are lifting their heels against God, and they will be punished for it. If not in this life, then in the next. Congratulations, Mrs. Olsson.
Linda Ann & David Jewell says
Congratulations to our dear friend, Eva Olsson, on this fantastic honour that your adopted country has bestowed upon you. We are so very proud of you and honoured to be counted as your friends. Carry on with your remarkable life. You are such an inspiration for each one of us to do more to promote tolerance, justice and love to our world.
Jody Steinhauer says
This is an incredible story of resilience and survival. I hope everyone reads this and shares her story as what is happening now can NOT be repeated–what she went thru and the rise on antisemitism thru misinformation is terrifying for Jewish people. I am proud that my community is celebrating and publicizing this important event.
Bev Belanger says
Such an inspirational woman! Congratulations, education is the key to combat hatred.
Yvonne Heath says
Congratulations and thank you, Eva. You continue to show the world what is possible when we stand for Love and respect for all. You have been a voice for those silenced and shared your mission to eradicate the word hate. Hate creates suffering. So if you want to honour Eva, stand for all that is good. “I love you, my friend! xo”
Nora Lupin says
Eva spoke to the 5th and 6th graders at my elementary school in Ottawa in 2010, and the impact she had on me is difficult to put into words. I’m sure Eva downplayed some of the horrors of her story to make it reasonably appropriate for 11 and 12-year-olds, but what she told us was more than enough to change the way I look at the world and respond to injustice forever. I’m still in touch with many of my friends from back then, and all of us can vividly recall Eva and her message: that when someone was being hurt, bystanders had a responsibility to speak out, and that we should never, ever be silent in the face of injustice. At the time, she brought that message to our level by relating it to bullying, but this lesson grew up alongside me and has shaped the work I seek to do as an adult. I will never, ever forget her. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to hear her speak, and it fills my heart to know she’s being recognized for the work she’s done. Congratulations, Eva!