By Chloé Rouleau — Contributor

On Monday Nov. 21, in Centennial Theatre, I attended the second lecture of the 2022-23 Donald Lectures Series. Centennial Theatre, almost at maximum capacity, was filled with students, faculty, administrators, and community members to hear Eva Kuper’s story. Kuper’s direct, frank, and sometimes funny speaking style combined with pictures made for a captivating evening.

Born in 1940 in Poland, at the start of the Second World War, Kuper is the daughter of Jewish parents, Anthony and Fela, and a Holocaust survivor.  In 1942, when Kuper was only two years old, she and her mother were rounded up for deportation. When Fela’s husband learned what had happened, he notified Regina Baker, Eva’s aunt. Baker went to the train loading docks and started screaming that she was Eva’s mother. In an act of bravery and selflessness, Fela handed over her two-year-old baby through the openings of the cattle car to Baker, knowing that something terribly wrong was going to happen. Kuper’s mother was deported to Treblinka, a few hours from Warsaw, Poland, where she was murdered along with over 900,000 Jews during the Second World War. 

Living in a ghetto with her father, and avoiding deportation on many occasions, the two of them finally escaped via the underground sewer system. Through friends and family connections, Kuper was kept safe. At the age of three, and for the remainder of the war, she was cared for by Franciscan nuns. 

Once the war ended, she was reunited with her father. Eva was raised Catholic and knew nothing of her Jewish heritage. Her father remarried, and they immigrated to Montreal in 1948. It was during the crossing of the Atlantic that her father told Eva that she was Jewish. She explained that it took her many years to process her story and finally be proud of her heritage.

Hearing her recount her story of courage, perseverance, and determination was very enriching for all audience members who attended this Donald Lecture. Kuper, now 82, volunteers for the Montreal Holocaust Museum and gives lectures, like the one we were so fortunate to attend.

Learning about her experience, similar to many others during the Holocaust,  will be something I will not forget anytime soon. If you are new to Bishop’s like me, I encourage you to attend the next Donald Lectures. We are very lucky to have such great speakers come to our campus.