Shalom magazine - The Atlantic Jewish Council

HoLoCaust eduCatioN
A Message of Hope A Day with
Holocaust Survivor Philip Riteman
by Taffara Murray
The walls of the gym are lined
with posters, the seats are filled
with people anxiously waiting,
and Philip Riteman is making his
way to the front. As I sit here waiting
for something I feel I worked hard
to accomplish along with all of my
classmates and my communications
teacher Kathryn, I can’t help but
think back to the days that brought
us to where we are in this gym. It
was one question that would lead us
up to this wonderful opportunity,
and that question was, “What was the
Holocaust?”
My communications class in the Adult
Learning Program at NSCC was studying
genocide. We explored Rwanda and
Darfur and went back in history to learn
and discover. While learning and digging
deeper, many of us came to a realization
- what did we really know about the
Holocaust? We knew it happened, and that
was it. Why did it happen? When did it
happen? What actually took place? This is
when we decided this was something we
all wanted to learn more about.
We then learned of Philip Riteman, a
Holocaust survivor, who lived here in
Halifax. Then we all discussed and thought
what an opportunity it would be if he
would come and speak to us. Never in a
million years did I imagine the event that
would actually take place from this one
thought!
Then one day, Kathryn stood up at the
In military dress, far left, Brigadier General Tony Stack,
is captivated by Philip Riteman after introducing him.
front of the class
and announced
that Philip Riteman
had agreed to come
speak to us. Our
class was ecstatic
and we started
talking to one
another about how
great this would be.
“But wait”, Kathryn
says, “there is more.”
More? How can
you get much more
than Philip Riteman
coming to speak to
us? She then tells
us that he and the
Brigadier General will be coming. Once
again, we started talking with excitement.
“Wait. There is still more”, she says. Still
more? How can she top this?
“Philip Riteman is coming to speak with
us on the day of the 65th Anniversary of
the Liberation of Auschwitz, which is also
International Holocaust Remembrance
Day.”
This left us all speechless. What an
amazing opportunity we were all getting!
This was a once in a life time experience,
and it just kept getting better and better.
And with that, we were off - planning and
getting assigned duties and tasks. Everyone
wanted to be a part of this event, and
everybody was putting in their fair share to
ensure this day would be the best we could
make it. Classmates
who barely spoke
were coming
together to help each
other with whatever
they could. The days
leading up to this
event were filled
with anticipation,
team work, and hard
work. It was the
most worthwhile
Page 22 Tishre 5771 - Vol 35 No. 2
Philip Riteman describing the photos to Brigadier General Tony Stack
thing I’ve ever done in my academic
career, and I’ll never forget the experience.
I heard the principal of our school get up
to the microphone and start to speak, and
I snapped back from my thoughts on the
prior days. This was it; it was starting.
The Brigadier General stood up and
spoke, and we all listened to his words of
experience and stories of what he knew
and had seen in his career.
Then, it was Mr. Riteman’s turn. He
walked up to the front and took the
microphone.
As he spoke, I swear you could hear a pin
drop. Everyone was hooked on every word
he was saying. He told us of his family, the
days leading up to being sent to Auschwitz,
the awful train ride there, and then actually
being in Auschwitz. His stories made my
stomach do 360’s and my heart jump into
my throat. My eyes stung with tears, and
my breath was taken away. I thought to
myself, “Have I ever really felt pain? Have
I ever really felt fear?”
Then he said something, something that
will never leave me. He said “You don’t
know where you’re going, until you get
there.” These are the truest words I’ve ever
heard. You can never know what is going
to happen, until you are there and it is