Writing Partners
Our volunteer writing partners are people of different ages, life stages and religious, cultural and education backgrounds. They share the desire to learn more about the Holocaust and support survivors in telling their stories in the manner that was meaningful to them.
It was a privilege to meet Holocaust survivor Renee Singer through this project. We have become friends; I have met her daughter, and Renee has met my granddaughter, who visited Auschwitz as a teenager. Renee was willing to share her story of surviving the Holocaust with me even though she had not fully shared her story with her family. After hearing her story, I realized I had met one of the strongest women I have ever known. Renee survived because her mother had the foresight to place her in a Catholic convent as a young girl. Renee became very attached to the nuns and even embraced the Catholic faith. After the war, Renee learned that all her family had perished at Auschwitz except for her younger brother, who had survived because their mother placed him with a gentile Belgian family. Renee rediscovered her Jewish roots and found her way to the new country of Israel. Writing her memoir changed me in ways I never thought about before — it made me realize how fortunate I am to have grown up in Canada, and also taught me not to complain about the small things in life. Renee has shown me that it is possible to survive terrible experiences and still have a positive outlook. I feel lucky to call her my friend.
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