Pinchas Gutter, 92, and Mariette Doduck, 89, were both children when they survived the Holocaust. But now something else unites them: when a government representative called them a few months ago to inform them they would be receiving the Order of Canada, both thought it was a prank call.
Eventually, the two renowned speakers realized it was for real. They are among 88 Canadians recently named to the honour by the governor general. Gutter and Doduck’s families and friends, it turned out, had kept the four-year-long application process a secret.
As the world gathers on Jan. 27 to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz—where Dodeck’s mother and two brothers were among the million Jews murdered—both survivors sit down with Ellin Bessner on The CJN Daily to explain what keeps them going, how Holocaust education has shifted post-Oct. 7, and how they hope to change the world for their great-grandchildren.
Related links
- Watch the 80th anniversary ceremony of the liberation of Auschwitz live at 10 a.m. ET on Jan. 27 here.
- Learn about Pinchas Gutter’s story in The CJN, and interact with his hologram testimony done by the USC Shoah Foundation, which we covered in The CJN.
- Discover Mariette Doduck’s struggle as a Holocaust orphan after she arrived in Canada together with three of her older surviving siblings, and later founded the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, in The CJN. Her new book is called A Childhood Unspoken.
Credits
- Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
- Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
- Music: Dov Beck-Levine
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