International Women’s Day is a time to recognize the resilience, achievements and contributions of women throughout history. It is a day rooted in the struggles of working-class women, from the protests of garment workers in the early twentieth century to the global movement for gender equality today. This year, the VHEC honours Bronia Sonnenschein, a Holocaust survivor, educator and community pillar who dedicated her later years to ensuring that future generations would learn from the past.

Born on July 12, 1915, in Galicia, Poland (now Zolochiv, Ukraine), Bronia moved to Vienna, Austria, where she spent her childhood. The annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938 shattered the lives of Vienna’s Jewish community. Bronia and her family were eventually deported to the Łódź ghetto, where Bronia worked in the ghetto administration under Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski and ended up marrying Eric Strauss in 1943.

This powerful photograph, part of the Bronia Sonnenschein collection and The Face of the Ghetto: Pictures Taken by Jewish Photographers in the Litzmannstadt Ghetto, 1940-1944 exhibition shows a fleeting moment of ceremony amidst the harsh reality of the ghetto, with Mordechai Rumkowski, chairman of the Łódź Judenrat offering a blessing to two brides, including Bronia Sonnenschein. Aside from Bronia, none of the individuals in the photograph survived the Holocaust.

Bronia and her sister, Paula Lenga, were later deported to Auschwitz and endured forced labour in Stutthof and a munitions factory in Dresden. Surviving a death march to Theresienstadt, Bronia was liberated by Soviet forces in May 1945. Her husband and many family members did not survive.

Like so many Holocaust survivors, Bronia had to rebuild her life. She worked with the American Joint Committee in Prague before immigrating to Israel in 1948 and then to Canada. Settling in Vancouver, she raised two children and established herself within the community. Bronia balanced the demands of single motherhood after her husband’s passing in 1952 with a commitment to work and volunteerism.

After retiring in 1987, Bronia dedicated over two decades to Holocaust education, sharing her experiences with thousands of students, educators and community members. She believed in the power of storytelling and bore witness not only to honour those who perished but to challenge rising antisemitism and historical denial. In recognition of her contributions, she was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 for exemplary volunteer service.

Her visits to schools across British Columbia left a lasting impact, with many students reaching out afterward to express their gratitude. One student wrote to Bronia, “Please continue speaking about your life. You really made a difference, and I’ll never forget you.”

Quote from a 1996 Zachor article by Claudia Cornwall: “You have to reach out,” says Bronia Sonnenschein, “otherwise the hate will never end. It will continue generation after generation.” “But I never expected,” she says, “that my words would reach as far as Germany—and to Nuremberg of all places.” Read more here: Zachor 1996 about how Bronia’s story reached students.

Bronia passed away in Vancouver on January 26, 2011. We are grateful to have her 1990 testimony and memoir, Victory Over Nazism: The Journey of a Holocaust Survivor, which ensure that her story continues to be shared.

On this International Women’s Day, we celebrate Bronia not only as a survivor but as a woman who transformed her suffering into a force for good. She reminds us that remembrance is not passive—it is active, requiring us to confront injustice and uphold the dignity of all people. As we honour Bronia’s legacy, we reaffirm our commitment to learning from history and amplifying the voices of those who, like her, have dedicated their lives to making the world a better place.

In celebration of International Women’s Day 2025, the VHEC is proud to showcase a new online gallery of “Women’s Voices”, a collection of memoirs and writings from local Holocaust survivors and authors.