By Michelle Martinez, News Editor -

Boston College’s Genocide Awareness Group, a committee of Americans for Informed Democracy (AID), sponsored an event in which speakers shared the stories of survivors of genocide.

Tamara Indianer, who represents the Holocaust Legacy Partners Project, which is part of Holocaust Center Boston North, is dedicated to preserving the history and memory of Holocaust survivor Netty Vanderpol. In “ensuring that the lessons of the Holocaust are never forgotten” she seeks that “the Holocaust doesn’t remain a page in a textbook,” as survivors pass away.

Fr. Bienvenu Mayemba, S.J., a BC Jesuit from the Congo, also shared his experiences having lived in Rwanda before and after the genocide.

Indianer proceeded to share the story of Dutch Holocaust survivor Netty Vanderpol, who led a normal life until 1940 when the Germans invaded Holland when she was only thirteen years old. Vanderpol, who actually went to school with Anne Frank, began to notice how her friends and schoolmates were slowly being deported or going into hiding as anti-Jewish policies began to be implemented.

In 1943, among the last Jewish transports, Vanderpol’s family was deported to Westerbork camp, which essentially served as a transit camp. 107,000 passed through Westerbork, and only 5,200 survived.

Her family was later moved to Terezinstadt, which was originally used in the 1800’s to house a maximum of 7,000 soldiers. During the Holocaust, however, it was used as a transit camp to the death camps, mainly Auschwitz, said Indianer. It would hold over 50,000 prisoners; seven times its intended capacity. “Essentially each prisoner had two square yards of space to his or herself,” said Indianer.

In a video interview shown by Idianer, Vanderpol relates some of the most harrowing experiences she suffered during the Holocaust. One of these included her work alongside another young woman in loading the transport of the elderly headed to Auschwitz. “They were standing on the side of the train in stretchers, and we had to bring them in the wagon,” said Vanderpol, “We started with the first one, placing the stretcher down on the train. All of the sudden, the Nazi Commandant appears and says ‘This is the way to do it.’ He pushes stretchers over to have them fall on the other person on the floor of the train.”

“An old woman told me ‘Please, please don’t do this,’ but I had to. And every time I’d do it, you’d hear the breaking of bones, and it was horrible. And this is the kind of thing I had to do, because if I didn’t, I would’ve been in the train with them. The guilt is enormous,” said Vanderpol.

Vanderpol also recalled another traumatizing moment in her youth. “A few of us, all girls between ages 16-19, saw two Germans in the back of a plough, which was like a knife. Two people were pulling the plough. One of the guys fell down. The other one stopped. The Germans screamed at him to continue pulling. I’ll never forget the face of that guy pulling, because the plough had to run over the one that had fallen. It was just so sadistic. It is something I will never forget,” said Vanderpol.

Vanderpol was put on a train to be deported eighteen different times, but she somehow managed to get out every time. “Netty lives with the guilt that every time she was pulled off, someone else died in her stead,” said Indianer.

Besides the great degree of guilt that is involved as a survivor, Vanderpol also feels great resentment and anger. Terezinstadt was portrayed as a model camp by the Nazi propaganda machine, as an attempt to show the world that the rumors of atrocities being committed were untrue. When the Danish Red Cross was set to visit the camp, Terezinstadt was rebuilt and rebeautified. Following their visit, the Red Cross released a report that “the atrocities weren’t happening and that the facilities were beautiful.” To this day, Netty has felt betrayed by the Red Cross, and never gave them a penny until the earthquake hit Haiti this past year.

In 1944, Vanderpol and her entire nuclear family finally became free by being part of a risky volunteer prisoner exchange. Indianer notes how for the first years, Vanderpol didn’t speak about the war. It was not until Elie Wiesel urged others to “bear witness to the evils perpetrated by the Nazis” that she began to voice her guilt and suffering by means of art. Her needlepoint collection, which consists of nineteen different needlepoints of her life, is entitled “Every Stitch a Memory.”

After Indianer recounted Vanderpol’s experiences during the Holocaust and her memories as a survivor, Mayemba spoke about genocide in the perspective of Rwanda and Congo, and the responsibility everyone has to remember as well as to act. “Every time I hear people talking of genocide, I say there are two things we need to do: We need to rethink how we perceive others—especially those who are different from us, and we need to give ourselves permission to speak out for the victims,” said Mayemba.

Mayemba noted how the world is one of paradox, consisting simultaneously of great beauty and amazement, but also terror, fear, and sadness. “Genocide is only an aspect of this world of paradox,” Mayemba said, and Africa has suffered from it greatly in the past decades.

With the Rwandan genocide, Mayemba’s native Congo had to take in numerous refugees from the bordering country. “They needed to be taken care of. And then the Congolese became jealous, which creates great tension,” said Mayembe.

He also notes that genocide instills a great degree of guilt on those who survive, providing a feeling that something should have been done to stand up for the victims. As survivors, there is a responsibility to not just speak for the victims, but to be aware of the dangerous doctrines that might lead to genocide. These include the regarding of anyone else as an ‘other,’ the dismissing of others’ consciousness, and the belief in others’ inferiority due to their differences.

Mayembe was in Rwanda right before the genocide happened, and then returned after it had ended. “It was sad to return to this place I’d lived in for two years; so many people had died. And there were no individual graves, just mass graves. Genocide creates an empty space. And it had implications on Congo as well,” said Mayembe.

As citizens of the world, we have the responsibility to remember the past as well as to act for the future. “We watch on TV all these instances of exploitation, harassment, abuse—do we see this and get angry? Or do we see that we have to resist? We have the responsibility to stand for the crucified people, those that are suffering,” Mayembe said.

“When we remember, we have to remember to move forward. We don’t remember to be stuck in the past. We remember to be able speak out for the victims. We remember because we want a better world. That’s what we want.”