President Ed Bourassa opened Monday’s meeting of the Moose Jaw Rotary Club by welcoming Claude Duke, Blair Scott and the meeting's guest speaker, Larry Hadwen.
Bourassa announced there are still vacancies open on the various club committees and the need for volunteers with the Salvation Army's annual Christmas kettle campaign. For the date of Dec. 2, there are about half a dozen spots that need to be filled.
Members were reminded that the club's regular meeting on Dec. 7 will be moved to the evening in more of a Christmas celebration and fellowship meal. Bourassa will have a sign up sheet available at the next meeting for those wishing to bring their spouses or guests.
Hadwen’s presentation was called "Holocaust Journey: Fire and Ashes and a Sea of Silence."
Hadwen, a former history teacher at Central Collegiate, took a trip along with several other teachers to visit sites in Germany, Poland, and Israel. Through photos, poems, and reflections, his presentation focused mainly on sites in Poland where many of the most notorious concentration and death camps were located. Among others, Hadwen and his group visited the Auschwitz I, Auschwitz-Berkenau, and Treblinka camps, where they toured the remaining facilities and paid their respects at the various memorials and cemeteries across the country.
Hadwen also had the opportunity to visit the location of the Warsaw Ghettos, and see a piece of the remaining wall that kept thousands of Jews segregated from the rest of the population in the city. He saw the Oskar Schindler's factory, where nearly 1,100 Jews were able to find a way to survive the war thanks to his efforts.
As well, Hadwen's group was able to speak to a few survivors firsthand, and heard the painful memories of loss, grief, and the horrors of war.
Hadwen now takes his presentation to many schools around the province, and shares his vivid experiences with an audience too young and removed to know the full impact of these human atrocities. It is his hope that through his talks, students will appreciate the hardships and trauma of the war years, and that he will help to keep the memory alive of those who lost their lives.
The Rotary Club of Moose Jaw meets Mondays at noon at the Heritage Inn. Everyone is welcome to attend. For membership information, please contact Don Forer at 693-9952.
