Holocaust survivor recalls horror of concentration camps

“I owe my life to the veterans,” said Riteman, a Holocaust survivor who was at ESPB to talk about the years he spent in concentration camps during the Second World War, including Auschwitz.

In a powerful presentation to a quiet, attentive audience in the school’s gymnasium, Riteman became emotional at times as he shared painful memories of people lined up and murdered by machine gun, children crying as they choked on poisonous gas, infants ripped from their mothers’ arms and tossed away like trash or worse.

He recalled being hungry, thirsty and cold, living in crowded, filthy conditions and forced to endure long, inhuman workdays.

He spoke also of people being very frightened.

“You don’t know what fear is,” he told the students. “I hope you’ll never know.”

A native of Poland – he grew up near the Russian border – the 82-year-old Riteman called on the students to study history, to be aware of the Holocaust and to do their part to make sure it never happens again.

“Your generation should know about it,” he said.

He asked them to consider how fortunate they are to be living in a free and democratic Canada and – in reference to Remembrance Day – he again encouraged them to think about those who lost their lives while serving their country.

He called on his audience not to let prejudice or hatred take root.

“Teach your children to love,” he said.

Riteman – who said prisoners in the concentration camps risked being killed just for falling out of step while marching – recalled being liberated by American soldiers in the spring of 1945. By this time he weighed just 75 pounds.

A Bedford resident who spent many years in Newfoundland before moving to Nova Scotia, Riteman indicated in an interview after his presentation that discussing what happened to him and what he saw during the war never gets any easier.

“It’s still very hard,” he said, noting that for over 40 years after the war he wouldn’t talk about it.

Spared an early death in the concentration camp by lying about his age – he was 14 but claimed to be a few years older – Riteman acknowledged to his Par-en-Bas listeners that he isn’t sure how he and his fellow survivors managed to pull through.

“How we survived I don’t know,” he said.

Referring to the millions who didn’t, he urged his audience not to forget and to help ensure that this horrible piece of history is never repeated.

“Stand up against evil,” he said.