Canadian Shoah survivor: Life in Israel is harder
Vera Slyomovics is one of 300 survivors living in Vancouver area. In Jewish state, she says, 'the tension is high, one must work extremely hard. There, many Holocaust survivors are sick, while in Canada life is better on all accounts'
VANCOUVER – "I don't think there are many Holocaust survivors left at my age, but there is no doubt that those who live in Israel have a harder life than mine," says Vera Slyomovics, an 84-year-old Holocaust survivor living in Vancouver, Canada.
According to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Center, more than 300 survivors currently live in the area. While some survivors prefer to stay anonymous, others do not want to be identified with the Holocaust, says the center's Executive Director Frieda Miller.
"Among children and orphaned Holocaust survivors, some were raised in non-Jewish households, and some live in mixed families. There are even survivors that have yet to hear about us," Miller says.
The center was founded in 1983 by survivors who wanted to leave a mark for the future generations, but also to promote anti-racist education, civil rights and social justice. It is in fact the main Holocaust institute in British Colombia and the western part of the country.
Slyomovics, whose son and grandchildren live in Israel, explains that "life is harder there, in terms of security and politics. The tension is high and one must work extremely hard. The weather is not easy either. Therefore, quite a few Holocaust survivors are sick and have many ailments, while in Canada life is better and more comfortable on all accounts. I used to fly to Israel at least once a year, so I am able to compare between the two places," she says.
Vera of the Hollander family, who was an only child, lost her father and most of her relatives in the Auschwitz concentration camp. During the 1945 Death March, after a one-year stay at the camp, she managed to escape with her mother to Czechoslovakia. Two years later she married Joseph Slyomovics, who served in the British military.
After they married, the couple moved to Austria and from there immigrated to Montreal, where there two children were born. Peter, who was born in 1948, is considered the Zionist of the family and made aliyah in 1972. He lives in Jerusalem and has two children. His sister Susanne was born two years after him. She currently lives in Los Angeles and has one son.
Refused German reparations
Vera refused to receive reparations from the Germans for the time she spent at the concentration camp, but was willing to accept a small pension of €400 (about $540) a month from the airplane factory where she worked in Leipzig.
Due to her family's good financial situation, Vera was able to devote herself to extensive volunteer work in the Jewish community throughout the past 40 years. Five years ago, she received the Order of Canada title for merit, which is the highest such order administered by the country.
When asked about how the horrors of the past affected her life, Vera said she was a very optimistic person. "From a young age I decided not to worry too much and especially not think about what happened, but rather about what will happen. My entire life I try to look forward and march ahead. I have many good friends that surround me constantly and of course a supportive and warm family."
In 1968, following the violent riots in Montreal, Vera and Joseph decided to leave town and move to Vancouver, where they live today.
Vera spends most of her time taking care of her 97-year-old husband, whose health is unstable. "Up until my husband became sick, over 40 years ago, I was active in commemorating the Holocaust. In recent years I have been less involved. Despite the Holocaust, I had and have a good life," she says.
