Over 50 Edmonton Holocaust survivors gather to share their stories
Posted February 3, 2026 6:02 pm.
Last Updated February 3, 2026 6:39 pm.
Over 50 Holocaust survivors gathered in Edmonton on Tuesday for a chance to look back and reflect on one of the most horrific events in human history, but also to share joy: celebrating survival and resilience through Cafe Europa.
“Our town was bombed, a lot of bombs fell on my town,” said Lina Kichnevskaia, a Holocaust survivor.
Kichnevskaia is remembering her time living in Ukraine during the Second World War. The now 90-year-old was put in a concentration camp when she was just six-years-old. The same camp where her grandfather was killed.
“Life in the camp was very hard. We didn’t have anything to eat. It was cold. No place – no toilets, no water, no nothing. A lot of people are sick and a lot of diseases,” Kichnevskaia explained.
Kichnevskaia is sharing her story along with other Jewish Edmontonians who experienced the war.
For 85-year-old Irina Zhuravin, her family avoided concentration camps, but remembers persecution while living in occupied Belarus.
“Jews weren’t allowed in universities. In some universities, it was a little per cent. You have to wait in line for everything, for flowers, for chicken; nothing is available,” Zhuravin explained.
While the event is meant to highlight the joy of survival, Danielle Dolgoy, the executive director of Jewish Family Services Edmonton, says it’s more important now, with a reported rise of anti-semitism and Holocaust denialism, that these gatherings are more important than ever.
“It’s an opportunity to celebrate the resilience side of that, the hope, the optimism, the survival rather than dwelling on the horror, the tragedy, and the difficulties that they lived through and overcame,” said Dolgoy.
Kichnevskaia said, “We wanted to forget it. But we have to give a chance to young people to know about what we went through.”
Zhuravin added, “Maybe to read more to talk to people instead of right away, you know, agreeing to be something that sounds good.”
Jewish Family Services provides support to 70 Holocaust survivors who are still alive in Edmonton.
