'That was the last time I saw my mother': Vancouver-based survivor opens up on International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Marie Doduck was just five years old when she says the Nazis tore her family apart.
"Memories keep coming up," said the 88-year-old.
No memory more heart-breaking than a final goodbye she'll never forget.
"I saw my mother at the end of the street and my brother Albert," said Doduck. "As I was going to yell 'mama,' the woman put her hand across my mouth to stop me from yelling 'mama' and carried me away. That was the last time I saw my mother."
She says she hid with non-Jewish, Nazi-resisting families in Nazi-occupied Belgium for more than three years. She reunited with her surviving brothers and sisters at the end of the war. In 1948, she immigrated to Vancouver.
Nina Krieger is the executive director of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.
"International Holocaust Remembrance Day is taking place this year in a world where we've witnessed increased antisemitism, racism and xenophobia," said Krieger. "The urgency around learning from the Holocaust and learning from eyewitnesses when there's few precious survivors around us is really as important as ever."
A 2019 study titled “Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness in Canada” found 48 per cent of Canadians believe something similar to the tragic event could happen in other Western democracies today.
According to the survey, 22 per cent of millennials said they hadn’t or weren’t sure if they had heard of the Holocaust.
"So today is really about remembering, but remembering with purpose," added Krieger.
Doduck went on to have a large family and shares her story publicly at schools across Metro Vancouver. She recently released a memoir titled "A Child Unspoken." Through her journey, she says she's learned a valuable lesson.
"Hate is not a thing to live with," said Doduck. "Hate doesn't belong in humanity."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Asking rent prices up 9.3% across Canada, Ontario sees only decline: report
A new report says the average asking rent for a home in Canada in April was up 9.3 per cent compared with a year ago, while a slight month-over-month increase was also recorded for the first time since January.
Prince William says wife Kate is 'doing well'
Prince William said on Friday his wife Kate was 'doing well' in a rare public comment about the Princess of Wales as she undergoes preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
'I may have some nightmares:' Man survives being bitten by 2 sharks in Bahamas
A man who was bitten by two sharks in the Bahamas said Thursday he's 'thankful that I'm here' while sharing his story of survival.
Ontario coroner to investigate death of man who suffered cardiac arrest while waiting in ER
A provincial coroner will be investigating the death of 68-year-old David Lippert, who suffered a cardiac arrest while waiting in a crowded emergency room in Kitchener, Ont.
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake reported off Vancouver Island's west coast
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
'Irate male' assaulted Newfoundland officers with block of cheese, police say
Police in Newfoundland say patrol officers were assaulted Thursday by a "very irate male" wielding a block of cheese.
Dashcam video shows terrifying near-miss on two-lane northern Ontario highway
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
Canadian Blood Services apologizes to LGBTQ2S+ community for discriminatory blood donation policy
Canada's longstanding blood donation policy that prevented sexually active men who have sex with men and some trans people from donating blood and plasma was harmful and discriminatory, Canadian Blood Services acknowledged on Friday, in issuing an apology to the LGBTQ2S+ community.