After 80 years of silence, Evelyne Askolovitch, deported at the age of 4 to Bergen Belsen, now testifies tirelessly. This afternoon, in front of 400 apprentices from the Lancy Technical Vocational Training Center, she recounted the horror of Nazism. A testimony to commemorate the day dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
In front of 400 young people aged 15 to 19, a little 84-year-old lady captures all the attention. In front of the microphone: it’s Evelyn Askolovitch, deported at the age of 4 by the Nazis to 3 different camps, including Bergen-Belsen. She came to tell her story and that of her family. And simply state the reality that the Shoah was. “We were able to kill 6 million Jews in full view of the whole world. Men, women and children. They were gassed, burned and murdered just because they were Jews. To say this is ultimately the aim of what I am saying”
Embody words
The audience is made up of apprentices in electronics, IT, watchmaking, mechatronics and automotive trades. They are all in training at the CFPT in Lancy. This testimony is for them much more interesting than a history lesson. “Through the feelings, we can clearly realize the horrors that it was,” indicates Dimitri Donche, a mature professional. In class, “these are extremely difficult things to talk about. They still remain words. There, we have someone who embodies these words,” emphasizes Dean Victoria Kolb.
Tirelessly transmit
For years, the Yom HaShoah association has had survivors of Nazism testify in Geneva schools. Stories that are part of the commemoration of the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. This year, the geopolitical context makes this exchange all the more essential.
“It’s a story that happened. And for nothing in the world, we cannot minimize it because at the moment, the Israeli army is bombing Gaza. That’s another story,” recalls Evelyn Askolovitch.
Evelyn Askolovitch continues to tirelessly pass on her story. She will speak tomorrow evening, Tuesday May 7, at the Thonex village hall. Today she is one of the last deportees still passing on the torch of memory.
