'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
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
'We have laws': Premier Smith says police action justified in Calgary
The actions, including the decision to use non-lethal force, to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Calgary campus were justified, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Friday.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.