TFS - Canada's International School

Invigorated by the momentum of liberation and the potential of an empty-canvas future, Gotz renounced the path of revenge. But this in no way meant he forgot any part of his past. From the Kovno Ghetto in Lithuania to his deportation to Dachau, he has shared the reality of the camps with successive generations for the last 80 years—and now, as a near centenarian, he is eight decades older than today's high school students. The history of a century they never knew may feel like a distant past, but this outstanding storyteller, with striking clarity, immersed them in his daily life as a Jewish teenager in Eastern Europe in the early 1940s. "IT SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY" Students listened as Gotz recalled his happy childhood, his "life before," with cherished memories buried deep in his soul like treasure. He evoked his peaceful family life in Soviet Lithuania, setting the scene for the senseless catastrophe that would soon befall the Jewish people and, through them, all of humanity. That peaceful time was before he was separated from his family, before he was confined, before he was subject to insidious humiliations, before he was forced into mechanical, repetitive labour meant to break the prisoners down. "It seems like yesterday," the nonagenarian said, mimicking his actions and movements from that time as if they were imprinted within him. Gotz's is a story of dignity that reflects the integrity of his soul. It brings tangible reality to what our Senior School students learn in history class— a reality that is still very much alive, and not so distant. By the end of this century, these students will be the same age Gotz is today. And they will still be able to say that they knew a Holocaust survivor. They listened, asked questions and, above all, thanked him for telling his story once more—extending the thread of history a little further. They will be the last in a long line. One thing is certain: they will never forget Elly Gotz. Gotz might have spent his entire life consumed by hatred—a justifiable hatred, fuelled by the loss of his adolescence to the horrors of Nazi barbarism. He bluntly admitted that, when the liberation came, he "could have killed every German." He even had a pistol. His listeners were speechless. "But hatred is useless," he said. "Hatred is deadly." e Senior School was immensely privileged on January 27, 2025, to welcome Elly Gotz as part of the 80th anniversary commemoration of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp's liberation by the Red Army. At 96, Gotz is one of the last Holocaust survivors—now in the twilight of his life—still striving to preserve the memory of one of contemporary history's darkest chapters. Adding an astonishing ode to life to his testimony, he offered students a message of rare humani. ELLY GOTZ — HUMANITY AGAINST CRIME By Ronan Le Guern 30 ENTRE NOUS

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