Holocaust survivor Eva Olsson dies at 101

Olsson passed away on Tuesday

Holocaust survivor and educator Eva Olsson has died at the age of 101. Olsson passed away peacefully Aug. 4 in Port Carling, surrounded by family.

Born in Northern Transylvania in 1924, she survived Auschwitz-Birkenau and other Nazi concentration camps before immigrating to Canada and settling in Bracebridge.

Later in life, Olsson dedicated herself to educating others about the dangers of hatred and intolerance, delivering more than 4,600 presentations to over 1.5 million people across North America.

She was recognized with numerous honours, including the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada.

Obituary:

Eva Olsson

October 28, 1924 - August 4, 2026

Eva passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on Tuesday, August 4, 2026. 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.

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. Eva and her five siblings were raised in a Hasidic household. In May of 1944, Eva and her family were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. From there, Eva 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, Eva chose to move to Sweden, where she met the love of her life, Rudy Olsson. They married and, in 1951, decided to take a trip to Canada. After a brief visit, they agreed to settle in the country and start a new life. Rudy loved Canada, which had a similar climate and geography to his home country. Canadians were also welcoming to newcomers, a quality that Eva often spoke about. Eva and Rudy spent much of their time camping and fishing with friends. Eva’s passion for the outdoors never faded.

Eva became pregnant with twins and, in 1954, her son, Jan Eric, was born in Montreal. Eva and Rudy were devastated to learn that Jan's sister passed away shortly before the delivery. Following Jan’s birth, Rudy and Eva moved to Toronto because of a job transfer for Rudy. A year and a half later they moved to Richmond Hill, where they established their roots, built a life, and raised Jan. While Rudy worked as an engineer, Eva took on a more traditional role as the homemaker. She had a passion for cooking and was known by neighbours for her Swedish and Hungarian dishes, which she generously shared with other women she had befriended on her street. Of those women, Eva developed a lifelong friendship with Jackie Doran. They remained the closest of friends for sixty-seven years until Jackie’s passing.

In February 1962, Rudy was hit by a drunk driver while commuting to work. He eventually passed as a result of the injuries sustained from the accident. Eva struggled to support Jan, who was ten years old at the time. However, despite never having attended school, Eva found part-time work and kept the family home running. Through Jan’s formative years, Eva raised him on the foundations of compassion and trust, while taking on the role of mentor and second mother to many of Jan’s friends. It was common to find the young boys in the neighbourhood congregating in the Olsson kitchen, sampling Eva’s European delights and discussing the issues of the day.

Eva’s love for the outdoors led her to purchase a waterfront property in the Huntsville area, where she and Jan built a modest cottage. It was her time in Huntsville that led her to sell the family home in Richmond Hill and move to Bracebridge in 1982. It wasn’t too long after this that the first of three grandchildren arrived: Brenna, followed by Rudy and Alexandra. Eva’s focus now became her grandchildren, who called her Bubba.The next twenty-five years were devoted to providing day care and teaching her grandchildren to cook and bake. Throughout Eva’s life, her gardens were always a place of wonderment and adventure. This was the case going back to her days living in Richmond Hill. Her large garden in Bracebridge was no small venture. Eva and her grandchildren spent many hours tending to the garden and enjoying the harvest of organic vegetables. Eva’s life took another significant turn when her oldest grandchild, Brenna, asked her Bubba to give a presentation about the war to her Grade 8 class. Up to this point in her life, Eva 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 a matter of months, word of the impact of Eva’s presentations had spread across the province of Ontario. Speaking to students became Eva’s life mission. Suddenly, she was doing two hundred presentations a year and travelling across Canada and the northern U.S. 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.

Eva followed her life mission starting at the age of seventy-one. The journey continued until her ninety-seventh birthday. Over those twenty-six years, Eva made more than 4,600 presentations to schools, organizations, and community groups, reaching more than 1.5 million people. She was a prolific speaker who had the ability to change people’s lives, and perhaps most importantly, young people’s lives. Eva wrote three books, all bestsellers. Her autobiography Unlocking the Doors: A Woman’s Struggle Against Intolerance is a five-times Canadian bestseller. Along with receiving many recognitions and awards of distinction from towns, cities, and community organizations across Canada, Eva was also the recipient of three honorary doctorates, the Order of Ontario, and the Order of Canada.

Eva enjoyed keeping in close contact with the many friends she made during her speaking tours. Those friends, many of whom were amazing educators, were champions for Eva’s message of compassion and acceptance. In her final year, Eva was supported and cared for under the watchful eye of her youngest grandchild, Alexandra. Eva always felt blessed to have her “angel,” Ali, by her side. After a short stay at Castle Peak Retirement Residence in Bracebridge, Eva was moved to hospice at Andy’s House in Port Carling where she passed away peacefully. She was fortunate to be in their care during her final weeks.

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, ON in recognition of the care and support they provided to Eva.

https://www.redcross.ca/ways-to-donate/other-ways-to-donate

https://www.hospicemuskoka.com/ways-to-give