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9| W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,M arch 1,2018 w aterloochronicle.ca sen said while signing cop- ies of his book for the stu- dents. In the music room of the school, packed with stu- dents, parents and teach- ers, Eisen explained how he made a promise to his fa- ther, who was taken to the gas chambers, that he would share his experienc- es during the Second World War, should he survive. "I've been speaking since 1991 to high schools and universities from coast to coast, along with provin- cial police, RCMP, and the Canadian Forces College every year," the 88-year-old Eisen told me. In his presentation, Ei- sen spoke of how his par- ents and three siblings were killed by the Nazis, Holocaust survivor and educator Max Eisen is the most gifted and riveting storyteller I have ever heard. I recently read his touching memoir, By Chance Alone, a remark- able true story of courage and survival at Auschwitz. That's why I jumped at the opportunity this past week to hear him speak at the KW Bilingual School, where my youngest daugh- ter is in Grade 6. "I like to speak to the Grade 5, 6, 7 and 8 students as they have many ques- tions - more than high school students, where you have to really try to draw that first question out," Ei- along with nearly 60 other relatives, while describing the horrific conditions in the concentration camp where he was a slave la- bourer. Eisen, who lives in To- ronto, also shared how he testified at the German tri- als of two former Ausch- witz guards, both put on trial in their 90s and con- victed of facilitating mass murder. He told me how the suc- cess of his school speaking engagements depends on the preparation before- hand. "You have to have a very dedicated person to teach the subject in school as they have to somewhat pre- pare the students for when a survivor comes to speak," said Eisen. KW Bilingual vice-prin- cipal and event organizer Kelly Widmeyer told me af- terwards: "Having Max Ei- sen speak to our older stu- dents was, to say the least, an incredible experience. Teachers strive daily to connect learning to real life experiences and today, his- tory certainly became 're- al.' I imagine our students growing up and sharing with their own children the experience of shaking Max's hand, examining his tattooed prisoner number, and bearing witness to his unyielding will to survive." Eisen shared how he found his way to a new life in Canada and challenged the students to stand up to all forms of bullying and in- timidation toward groups and individuals today. "We survivors of the Ho- locaust, our numbers are dwindling," he said. "But we leave you with all these things to think about and hopefully do something about." It's a powerful message that, as time goes on, fewer and fewer people can share from firsthand experience. But the threat of hatred and violence remains very real. I'm grateful that the next generation has the op- portunity to learn from history and, I hope, build a better future. - Marshall Ward is a freelance writer and artist. Email is welcome at mar- shall_ward@hotmail.com. Bearing witness to another generation Holocaust survivor's moving story inspires students to stand up against injustice says Marshall Ward MARSHALL WARD Column We have all seen the pic- tures. An ocean of young peo- ple, sporting green T-shirts - "Kiss me, I'm Irish!" - fill- ing every available inch of ground on Ezra Avenue, between King and Caroline Streets. Back in the day, when it was apparent that this "'thing" was becoming a "THING," good-hearted at- tempts were made by as- sorted stakeholders like the City of Waterloo, the po- lice, and the universities to create an atmosphere for a safe party. The goal was to allow the students to congregate under a set of controlled and supervised circum- stances and go with the flow, literally. For a few years, an alter- nate location was put in place - a big party tent was erected over on Seagram Drive - in an honest at- tempt to tempt the revel- lers from Ezra Avenue and over to a safer, regulated space, complete with li- quor licences and adult su- pervision. A lot of public resources went into that plan and for one year, it looked like it might actually work. But the party continued to grow. And grow. And grow. And it soon became ap- parent that this party was the pot of gold of all parties, drawing an estimated 15,000 people, including busloads of wannabe lepre- chauns and sprites from across the province and perhaps from even further afield. This party was not about Waterloo anymore. It was way bigger than that. This year, St. Patrick's Day falls on a Saturday, which presents a night- mare possibility. So, here's a nod of appre- ciation for Chief Bryan Larkin, for putting the lid on this year's St. Patrick's Day celebrations on Ezra Avenue. It had to end. I imagine the chief is taking some heat for this decision, but that's OK. He has a lot of support for his position that enough is enough, because over the years, every single attempt was made by our local pub- lic institutions to find a mutually workable solu- tion - good for the public and good for the revellers - and that good will was com- pletely taken advantage of by these people. Many are asking what happens now? How will our emergency services handle this? Chief Larkin is calling in reinforcements from Peel Region - a first for Wa- terloo Region - and the fo- cus will be on enforcement. I'm sure our fire and bylaw departments will be out, in full force. Laurier's representa- tives are supportive of this approach, warning that students who violate the law may also face academic sanctions. Take heed, students, I don't think there is an ap- petite for leniency any- more. Is that selfie on Ezra Av- enue worth being suspend- ed from school? I doubt it. - Karen Scian is the co- founder of the Talent Busi- ness Solutions, an educator and a community advo- cate. She is also chair of the Waterloo Public Li- brary Board. You can email her at bein- scian@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @karen- scian OPINION Enough is enough on Ezra Avenue Police chief right in calling for a crackdown on St. Patrick's Day revellers, says Karen Scian KAREN SCIAN Column On a chat site I recently read a "response" to some- one saying how they would not deal with Tim Hortons because of the way they treat their employees. The first person was re- ferring to some Tim Hor- tons franchise owners re- sponse to the new mini- mum wage. The second persons response was "the franchise owner deserved to make a profit," that they "took a chance" starting the doughnut store and that the owner had to deal with challenges "like em- ployees." Also he says, with the wage hike they had two op- tions. One was raising pric- es and option two was tak- ing employee "perks," like their breaks away. How wrong he was. First, you don't "take a chance" with Tim Hortons. Their head office does their due diligence and "will not" open a future failure. In fact, the only way one of their stores can fail is by incompetent management. Secondly, like any com- pany, they will have chal- lenges. But their employee challenges just got worse by taking some "perks" away from their employ- ees. But wait, there is a third option. How about those owners taking a "little less" of the profits home with them. I'm sure they can af- ford it more than the em- ployees losing their "perks" like paid benefits. After all, those employ- ees are the ones that make them wealthy, not them- selves. Most employers seem to forget that "fact." Fred Snider, Kitchener It's employees that generate wealth • LETTER TO THE EDITOR • Newsletter Sign up for our newsletter at waterloochronicle.ca/newsletter