HAULOCAUST SURVIOR EVA OLSSON ENDS A ‘LIFE’S MISSION’ OF TALKING ABOUT ‘ACCEPTANCE, TOLERANCE AND ‘IMPACT OF HATE IF UNCHALLENGED’
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
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BRACEBRIDGE — You needn’t wonder what Eva Olsson thought of the recent rise in anti-Semitism.
She spoke about it every day: “Her message of acceptance and tolerance, and the devastating impact that hate can have on the world if left unchallenged, touched every single person she met.”
Yesterday, Tuesday, August 4, her “passion” and late “life’s mission” ended when the Holocaust survivor died in her 101st year.
Eva Olsson (née Malek) was born on October 28, 1924, in Satu Mare, a city on the border of Hungary and Romania in Northern Transylvania.
She and her five siblings were raised in a Hasidic household. In May of 1944 her family was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. From there she was sent to work in forced labour camps and was later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was eventually liberated by British soldiers.
She and her younger sister were the only members of their family to survive the Holocaust.
Following her release from the camps and a few months of hospital care, Olsson moved to Sweden, where she met the love of her life, Rudy Olsson. They married and in 1951 moved to Canada.
She became a widowed-single mom in 1966 after her husband died from the effects of an auto accident, which left with her alone to raise her son Jan, who was 10.
Olsson was a “prolific speaker who had the ability to change people’s lives, and perhaps most importantly, young people’s lives,” says her death notice.
She first moved to Huntsville and then Bracebridge in 1982, where her life took a significant turn when her oldest grand-child, Brenna, asked her “Bubba” to give a presentation about the war to her Grade 8 class.
Until then she had not spoken about her experience in the concentration camps.
The presentation had a huge impact on the students, which ultimately led to speaking requests from other schools. Within months, word of the impact of her presentations had spread across Ontario.
She followed that journey starting at age 71 and continued until her 97th birthday.
“Speaking to students became her life’s mission.”
Suddenly, she was doing 200 presentations a year and travelling Canada-wide and into the northern United States.
“Her message of acceptance and tolerance, and the devastating impact that hate can have on the world if left unchallenged, touched every single person she met.”
Over the next 26 years, Olsson made more than 4,600 presentations to schools, organizations, and community groups, reaching more than 1.5 million people.
She wrote three books, all bestsellers. Her autobiography “Unlocking the Doors: A Woman’s Struggle Against Intolerance” is a five-time Canadian bestseller.
Along with receiving many recognitions and awards of distinction from towns, cities, and community organizations across Canada, Olsson was also the recipient of three honorary doctorates, the Order of Ontario, and the Order of Canada.
She is survived by her son, Jan (Alison), her grandchildren Brenna, Rudy (Natalie) and Alexandra, Rudy’s daughter, Josephine and step-grandchildren Emily and Claire Standfield.
After a short stay at Castle Peak Retirement Residence, in Bracebridge, she was moved to hospice at Andy’s House in Port Carling where she passed away peacefully.
Olsson was fortunate to be in their care during her final weeks, the death notice said.
“The Red Cross nursed Eva back to health after liberation and organized her immigration to Sweden.”
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Canadian Red Cross or Andy’s House in Port Carling, in recognition of the care and support they provided her.
Here are a couple of stories we wrote about her over the years.
The first, from 2020, is about Town of Bracebridge recognition
https://muskokatoday.com/2020/10/eva-olsson-honourd-with-bracebridge-mayors-award/
In February 2022 she spoke in support of Ukrainians standing up to hate.
The third is more recent when she was honoured in January 2025 with a King Charles III medal.
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