The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, November 4, 2 0 1 6 | 16 Her last memory of her little brother is of him looking back at her continued from p.15 soldiers entered the Ghetto and began moving from house to house. It soon became clear from the screaming and shouting that followed, that they were taking children. As the Germans approached, Yermus' mother hid Abraham behind some furniture. With the Germans coming down the hall Yermus quickly stepped behind an open door. "They came past me and went into the room where my mother was," said Yermus. "Nobody looked behind the sofa, nobody looked behind the door.. .Both of us were safe... that day." That night the children who were left, including Yermus and Abraham, were taken to a secret hiding place between two walls within the building. Sadly the hiding place was not secret enough and the following morning the trapdoor entrance flew open and a German ordered the children to get out. Yermus and her brother were taken outside where trucks and scores of armed German soldiers were waiting for them. "I was holding onto my brother. I was ordered to let him go. I was oblivious to what they said to me," said Yermus. "I was just standing there not moving and I'm holding my brother with my arms around him." Yermus was broken from this trance when one of the soldiers unleashed a German Shepherd, which sank its teeth into Yermus' wrist. At this point, Abraham was picked up by a soldier and taken away. Yermus would never see her little brother again. Her last memory of Abraham is him looking back at her as he was taken to a truck. The Germans inexplicably left Yermus where she was and concentrated on the other children. "They did not take me. To this day, I don't know why," she said. "How in the world was I not taken?" The only explanation Yermus can think of is that she looked older than she actually was and the Germans thought she might be of some use. In June 1944, the Kovno Ghetto was liquidated. After being transported for days on a sealed train with no food, water or toilets Yermus and her mother and father arrived at Stutthof concentration camp in Germany. After leaving the train, men and women were separated and Yermus and her mother were separated from her father. "That was the last time I saw my father," she said. He would ultimately perish at Dachau concentration camp. After entering the camp, Yermus, her mother and the other women from the train were directed to a room and made to undress. They were told they would be showering. "My mother and I were holding each other. We knew about the gas chambers," said Yermus. "We were surprised though because instead of gas, we got water." For the remainder of the war, Yermus and her mother continued to perform slave labour for the Nazis, digging trenches outside the camp. As the Red Army advanced ever closer, the guards evacuated the camp, forcing the inmates to participate in a death march to other concentration camps farther west. Yermus and her mother were among a group of women who were left behind. Prior to the guards leaving, each woman in Yermus' group received an injection. It is unclear what the injection was, but if it was intended to euthanize the inmates, it failed in Yermus' and her mother's case. Yermus said to this day, her leg still feels strange where she received the injection. Following their liberation by the Red Army, Yermus and her mother immigrated to Canada in 1948. She has dedicated her life to teaching people about the Holocaust to keep the memory of the victims alive and to prevent this horror from happening again. "I want to thank each and every one of you for giving me the honour of your presence," she concluded. "I hope you will remember me somehow." O pen your senses to what others have experienced. PLUM'S FOOD SHOP iS NOW OPEN! We serve fresh breakfast & lunches daily Take-out only until 2:00, Monday - Friday W e offer full s e rv ic e co rp o ra te ca te rin g 447 Speers Rd, unit 9 · 905-844-7110 w w w .p lu m c a t e r in g .c a ALL WINDSHIELD DOOR & BACK GLASS IN STOCK Certified Auto Glass Technicians with 22 Years O f Experience. S IN C E 1988 FALL PROMOTION 15% o ff refin ish in g Fall & Winter start dates are still available! · We deal directly with your Insurance Com pany · Lifetime Warranty against leaks ·Stone chip repairs · · ANTIQUE HARDWOOD FLOORING 290 Speers Road, Oakville www.antiquehardwoodflooring.ca Free Mobile Service Free Pickup & Drop OFF 905 825-8551 - FOLLOW US r i TO SEE THE T LATEST TRENDS mo Tel: 905.339.0339 HS 281 Speers Rd. Oakville ON L6K 2E9 ^ w w w .sp eersau to g lass.ca Mention this ad and receive 20% OFF!