Holocaust survivor Hedy Bohm gives London students a lesson in love

Thousands of elementary school students in the London area got a special lesson from one of the few remaining Holocaust survivors living in Canada about standing up for freedom and showing kindness.

Hedy Bohm, 94, spoke to 120 Grade 7 and 8 classes across the Thames Valley District School Board Thursday via video. 

Her talk came the day after the province announced Holocaust education would be made mandatory for all Ontario students starting in Grade 6 to combat antisemitism.  

"Every one of you has a spark within that makes you unique and capable, able to give something to the world and humanity. And you can start right at home by being kinder to people around you," said Bohm.

Students listened to her experience growing up in Romania as the rights of her family and other Jewish people were slowly removed. She told the students how her school was closed in March 1944 and she had to wear a yellow star on her sleeve. 

"It was the first time in my life I was made to feel different. Inferior. I asked myself, 'what did I do? Why?'. I still don't have an answer," Bohm said. 

Three months later, she and her family were transported by cattle car to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. She survived working in a munitions factory until the liberation in 1945, but it was the last time she saw her parents. 

The Holocaust didn't happen because everyone was a Nazi. It happened because the good people didn't stand up- Hedy Bohm, Holocaust survivor

"I've heard only brief encounters about the Holocaust and this really showed me how much more to it there was," said Philip Corscadden, a Grade 8 student at Lord Roberts Public School.

The virtual presentation was organized by Jewish London months ago, and happened to coincide with the timing of the announcement that Holocaust education would be increased. It's currently taught in Grade 10 history class but starting next Sept, will be in the social sciences section for Grade 6. 

"I think she was living in a world, sadly, not much different from the world we're living in now," said Hazel Sereda, another Lord Roberts student.

"We also want to stop it from ever happening again. And it's important that people don't experience what they experienced then and that we understand what happened so we can be better educated," she said.

The province said Wednesday that more than 50 incidents involving antisemitic hate symbols have taken place in the Toronto District School Board in the 2021-22 school year alone. That data was not available for the London region at the time of publication.

"Make sure you never watch someone being bullied and humiliated and just stand there and watch. The Holocaust didn't happen because everyone was a Nazi. It happened because the good people didn't stand up," Bohm said in closing.