Hamilton scientist who survived Holocaust to share story of resilience Tuesday night

Nadia Eva Rosa was only six years old when she and her mother were captured on Christmas Day in 1945 and sent to death camps.

They survived the atrocities of the Nazis, who murdered nearly six million European Jews during the Second World War. Her grandparents and many relatives did not.

Rosa, a biochemist and geneticist who has a daughter, and her husband left Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1968 for Hamilton. In Hamilton, she started working in pediatrics at McMaster University.

Rosa, now 85, will share her story of resilience on Tuesday, Nov. 7 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Shalom Village at 70 Macklin St. N.

“It is important because there are so few of us who can speak for so many of who didn’t make it. I feel an obligation,” Rosa said in a 2021 interview with the Hamilton Jewish News community newspaper. “I think of the children. That hurts more with age, not less. I think about them and how they died. The only thing I can do is speak for them.”

Hosted by BBYO and the Hamilton Jewish Federation, the free event is part of Holocaust Education Week and the Marvin Caplan Jewish Book Festival.

BBYO describes itself as a teen movement aimed at involving more Jewish teens in more meaningful Jewish experiences.

Participants can register here.

A lifelong advocate for local survivors, Rosa co-founded a Holocaust education committee and helped create a program for teachers and an annual seminar for students on the Holocaust. She has also devoted her life to spreading awareness about anti-Semitism, antiracism and bullying.

Rosa, born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1938, was recognized for her exceptional volunteer efforts and contributions to the city with the 2020 Order of Hamilton.

Click here for more on Hamilton events during the annual Holocaust Education Week.