Holocaust survivor to visit Rainy River District next week

A Holocaust survivor will visit Fort Frances next week.

97-year-old Nate Leipciger will speak Tuesday night at the Townshend Theatre, before making several school visits later in the week.

The Polish-born Leipciger was 15 when he and his family were forced into the camp in Auschwitz in 1943.

His mother and sister were killed.

His father helped him avoid the same fate by convincing Nazi officers that his skills as an electrician could be of use to them.

The two ended up in six different camps before being liberated by American troops.

Ben Mast, who organized the visit, says it was a chance meeting with Leipciger and his daughter in Poland that led to his visit.

Mast, the Pastor at Rainy River Evangelical Covenant Church, attended the March of the Living.

This annual educational program brings people from around the world to learn about the Holocaust.

It includes a walk from Auschwitz to Birkenau on Holocaust Memorial Day, which remembers the liberation of the camp in Auschwitz in January 1945.

This year’s event marked the 80th anniversary and recognized 80 survivors.

Prior to the trip, Mast learned about prominent Canadian Holocaust educators, one of whom was Leipziger.

Mast says he noticed him at the walk and struck up a conversation.

“I urged him to remain seated, but he sprung to his feet, embraced me with a hug, and we began to have a conversation,” says Mast.

“I asked where he was from, and he said, Toronto. He, in turn, asked where I was from, not really expecting him to know where I was speaking about, I told him Rainy River. He immediately said, Rainy River, of course. I worked for decades in the hospital there as the electrical engineer, as well as the hospitals in Sioux Lookout, Atikokan, and Fort Frances.”

Upon his return home, Mast remained in communication with Leiciger’s daughter to set up a visit.

He reached out to the district, raising over $5,000 to facilitate his journey, while working with the Fort Frances Museum and Cultural Centre and area school boards to arrange for speaking opportunities.

Mast says the non-profit human rights organization, Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, will be sending an educator to provide a workshop about the lessons and legacies of the Holocaust.

Mast says it may be one of the last opportunities for area residents to hear from someone who lived through one of the world’s darkest moments in history.

“These voices are quickly passing from us. We will not have these opportunities to hear firsthand testimony for very many more years. So, I think there’s such an urgency there,” says Mast.

“And I so respect Nate as a 97-year-old man coming up all this way, flying up to Thunder Bay, driving in from there, doing so not in a for-profit sense at all, doing so simply because of the urgency of having his story told.”

The free public event is entitled Bearing Witness and takes place at the Townsend Theatre from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, October 21st.

It will begin with a workshop from the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, followed by Leipziger’s personal story of survival through the Holocaust.

Similar events for students are also planned at Fort Frances High School and Cornerstone Christian School in Emo.