Ginette Kolinka, Auschwitz Survivor, Shares Testimony to Combat Antisemitism and Educate Youth

At 101, Ginette Kolinka, a Holocaust survivor who endured Auschwitz-Birkenau, has transformed decades of silence into a powerful mission against antisemitism. Known for her candid accounts, Kolinka dedicates her later years to ensuring that the lessons of the Holocaust are remembered and passed on to younger generations.

For decades, Kolinka avoided speaking about her traumatic experiences. She would often deflect questions with a harsh but telling response: “If I had a child, I would prefer to strangle them with my own hands than make them go through what I went through.” This approach, she said, encapsulated the horror she lived through.

Her turning point came in the late 1990s, influenced by Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List and the work of the foundation he launched to document survivors’ testimonies. Initially hesitant, Kolinka finally agreed to an interview in 1997, where she recounted three harrowing hours of memory, tears, and pain. That session marked the beginning of her public engagement with Holocaust education. Since then, the foundation has collected over 60,000 survivor testimonies, continuing to gather more.

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Kolinka survived deportation from Nazi-occupied France in 1944. Of the 76,000 Jews deported from France during World War II, just 2,500 survived Auschwitz-Birkenau. Kolinka herself was tattooed with identification number 78599 on her forearm but was spared from the gas chambers to serve as forced labor. Many of her fellow deportees perished immediately upon arrival.

Today, Kolinka travels to schools, such as Marcelin Berthelot High School east of Paris, sharing her experiences in lectures that leave students in respectful silence. She recounts being crammed into windowless transport wagons, stripped upon arrival, and subjected to dehumanizing treatment by Nazi guards, conveying both the physical and psychological toll of the camps.

Students have described her as “extraordinary” and “amazing,” admiring not only her survival but also her courage in speaking openly. Pupils like 17-year-old Nour Benguella and 19-year-old Saratou Soumahoro emphasize the importance of keeping history alive to prevent such atrocities from recurring.

Kolinka has published memoirs, including Return to Birkenau (2019), chronicling her journey from silent survivor to educator and activist. Through her work, she embodies the critical mission of remembrance, using her voice to fight hate and ensure that the horrors of the Holocaust are never forgotten.

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