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Holocaust survivor was two when taken to a concentration camp by Nathan Howes Special to the Beaver 3 | Friday, November 7, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Gershon Willinger was among the few who grew up during the Holocaust and lived to talk about it. Willinger, now 72, shared his story Wednesday at Oakville's Maple Grove United Church. The event, co-hosted by Maple Grove United and Shaarei Beth El Congregation, was part of Holocaust Education Week (Nov. 2-9). Willinger, a retired social worker now residing in Thornhill, Ont., was born in Amsterdam, Holland, in 1942 to German-Jewish parents, who were murdered in Sobibor, near Poland, in July 1943. He was placed in hiding as a young orphan. Since Willinger was born during the war, he does not possess the "memories of the war itself," he said, adding that each experience and story of a Holocaust survivor is unique. "It depends on when you were born, what age group you were in. If you were 10 years old and the war broke out, you have memories of a hierarchy of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and support," said Willinger. "When you were a little child, like myself, who was born during the war, you do not have those memories. You have memories of after the war." The beginning of Willinger's life was "quite turbulent," he said, noting his mother came to Holland in the early 1930s, while his father arrived in the latter part of the decade, after the fallout in Germany under the Nazi regime. "It was very, very difficult to stay, so he fled to Holland thinking it would be a safe haven for him. My mother did come for those reasons, but she also was in Holland and felt nothing could happen there," said Willinger. While he can't recall the actual war, Willinger said he knows his childhood story because of the Holland Park Garden Alexanian Carpet & Flooring Home Hardware Rabba Real Estate Tasty Food House New Homes City Parent Sprott Wealth Management New You Spa Hamilton Preprints "excellent documentation and pride the Nazi regime took." "Documentation was a very important thing because Jews at the time were commodities, we were not people. We had to be accounted for and people had to know who was on what lists -- very extensive and precise lists," said Willinger. He was first placed with a family near the German border in north Holland, "in the hope I would stay alive," Willinger said, and his mother returned to Amsterdam shortly after. The family changed his first name to Frits, which is Dutch, and he was known as Frits Willinger until he was 18. "I was then taken by Dutch police to Westerbork, (which) is a transport camp in Holland. Westerbork was not a murder machine," said Willinger. To avoid capture by the Nazis, he was placed in a children's home and remained there until Sept. 13, 1944. Willinger, who was two at the time, was deported on that day with 49 other children to Bergen Belsen. They were originally scheduled to go to Auschwitz, but plans changed. "We were the very last transport to leave Holland on Sept. 13, 1944. All 50 of us stayed alive. see Family on p.4 inside today's Editorial Artscene Beaver www.insideHALTON.com Sore Feet, Sports Injury, Painful Ingrown Toenails? Plantar Warts? We can help! Exceptional footcare for all ages. · Routine footcare · Corns & calluses · Plantar warts · Heel/arch/foot pain · Diabetic footcare and education · Thick or ingrown nails · Nail surgery · Sports related foot problems & injuries · Custom made orthotics · Sigvaris® compression stockings · Evenings and saturday appointments available · New patients welcome! J. Richard Werkman chiropodist 6 25 Sports Classified 28 32 *All flyers not necessarily delivered to all homes For home delivery & customer service call 905-631-6095, 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington New subscriptions call 905-631-6095 or subscribe online @ www.oakvillebeaver.com Now offering Laser treatment for toenail fungus. located on the north/west corner of maple grove dr. and cornwall rd. 1495 Cornwall Rd., Suite 33, Oakville T: 905-845-4817 www.werkman.ca TIS THe SeASOn TO AcceSSORIze. STROLL In SOpHISTIcATIOn THIS WInTeR WITH BURROWS. expeRIence fIne, eUROpeAn menSWeAR cOLLecTIOnS, expeRT ALTeRATIOnS AnD pROfeSSIOnAL ADvIce, RIgHT In THe HeART Of OAkvILLe'S HeRITAge cORe. STOp BY AnD WARm Up WHILe YOU See WHAT'S In THIS SeASOn. Voted Number 1 Financial Planner 11 Years HOLIDAYS AT BURROWS Peter Watson MBA, CFP, R.F.P., CIM, FCSI Certified Financial Planner Since 1991 DIAMOND 905.842.0232 burrowsclothiers.com 200 lakeshore road e, oakville 220 Randall Street · Downtown Oakville Phone: 905.842.2100 www.peterwatsoninvestments.com