Survivor Stories

Joe Mandel

Joe was part of the infamous Death Marches that took place at the end of the Second World War. He was marched from Mauthausen labour camp to Gunskirchen, Austria, where he was finally liberated.

For many years, Joe did not speak publicly about his Holocaust experiences. That changed through his connection with March of the Living. In 2012, at the age of 88, Joe joined the March of the Living, travelling to Poland with students and educators. That journey became especially powerful when he met Mason “Mickey” Dorsey, a veteran of the 71st Infantry Division and one of the American soldiers connected to the liberation of Gunskirchen. Their emotional meeting became the subject of the MOLDAP film Joe Mandel: Twice Liberated.

Joe Mandel: Twice Liberated

This video was screened at the opening of the March of the Living Exhibit at the United Nations WHEN YOU LISTEN TO A WITNESS, YOU BECOME A WITNESS, on Tuesday, 28 January 2014.

88-year-old Joe Mandel, a Holocaust survivor originally from Munkacs, Hungary, now living in Toronto, Canada, never shared his Holocaust experiences with anyone until he took part in the 2012 March of the Living. In this moving segment, Joe's return to Eastern Europe yields a most surprising and welcome reunion.

Through March of the Living and the March of the Living Digital Archive Project, Joe Mandel’s testimony helps preserve the story of forced labour, deportation, liberation, silence, memory, and the responsibility to pass Holocaust history to future generations.

The annual March of the Living program brings thousands of young people from around the world each year on Holocaust Remembrance Day to Auschwitz-Birkenau to honour the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and to pledge to build a better world for all humanity.

Candles of Kindness

A short film about Joe Gottdenker’s return to Poland and the recovery of his family’s Shabbat candlesticks, which had been preserved by two Polish women after the Holocaust. The film connects Joe’s survival as a hidden child with the courage of the Zioło family, who rescued him, and the candlesticks as an enduring symbol of Jewish life in prewar Poland.

Joe Gottdenker — Polish Holocaust Survivor

A short Ottawa Citizen video about Joe’s survival as a Jewish baby born in Nazi-occupied Poland and protected by a Polish family for the duration of the war.

Czeslawa & Olga

For most of her life, Czesława Żak z”l had two dreams:

  1. to fly on a plane

  2. to travel to Israel to meet the people she saved, their children and grandchildren.

One of the most moving chapters in Czesława’s later life was her reunion with Olga Kost, one of the people her family had helped rescue during the Holocaust. In 2013, with the help of March of the Living and Jewish Federations of Canada, Czesława travelled to Israel, fulfilling a lifelong dream to visit the country and reunite with Olga.

Their story is preserved in the MOLDAP film Czeslawa & Olga, which documents the reunion between Polish Righteous Among the Nations Czesława Żak and Holocaust survivor Olga Kost. The film reflects the deep bond created by rescue, memory, gratitude, and the responsibility to pass these stories to future generations.

Without a Doubt: The Story of Franciszek Paslawski

Servants of God - Marking the Opening of “The Museum of Poles Saving Jews in World War II”, Markowa, Poland. In honour of martyrs Józef & Wiktoria Ulma of Markowa and many other Righteous Among the Nations who risked their lives to save Jews in Poland during the Holocaust.

The event was held on March 17, 2016, at Congregation Habonim, Toronto and sponsored by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland. Franciszek Pasławski, at the time of the event, was 93 years of age and was the last man, as far as known, designated as one of the Righteous Among the Nations living in Canada. For many decades he was assisted by The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (https://jfr.org) an organization that provides financial support to aged and needy non-Jews who rescued Jews during the Holocaust and preserves their legacy through a national education program. He passed away in his sleep in September 2019 at 97 years of age.
The music is from André Rieu performing the Love theme from Romeo and Juliet, taken from the DVD "André Rieu - Romantic Moments."