Nipissing welcomed special guest speaker Eva Olsson

On October 29, the Common Book Common Ground program welcomed holocaust survivor Eva Olsson to present her story to the Nipissing Community.

Eva shared her personal history of survival and forgiveness to a large crowd at the North Bay campus with video links to Muskoka and Brantford. Her energy and vivacity belied the fact that she had turned 90 the day before her presentation.

Eva’s riveting narrative included her childhood in Hungary in a poor family of Hasidic Jews, to her teenage years spent in concentration camps and slave labour, and finally to her legacy of “caring, compassion and character.” She graciously answered the many questions that her story inspired.

Eva’s personal account and accompanying pictures, from that period, provide context for this year’s common book, The Book Thief.