The diary was written by David Koker, a 21-year-old student from Amsterdam, who was sent to the Vught concentration camp in Holland in 1943. The entries, which include both poetry and powerful insights into the emotional life of a camp prisoner, were made on scraps of paper and children's exercise books that were smuggled out of the camp and sent to his best friend Karel van het Reve. His family collected the various parts comprising 73,000 words and had the work published in 1977 as Dagboek geschreven in Vught (Diary written in Vught). It immediately became a part of the Dutch literary canon.

Horn served as the main translator for the English edition, which was edited by Robert Jan van Pelt, professor of architecture at the University of Waterloo, who has written extensively about the history of the Holocaust and Auschwitz. Van Pelt provided the informative introduction and biographical information about Koker. John Irons was brought into the project to render Koker's Dutch poetry into English. "The project took over my life," said Horn, professor emeritus at Glendon and University Historian, who came to Canada from the Netherlands 60 years ago.

Horn became involved in the project when van Pelt found his name on a list of translators kept by the Dutch Foundation for Literature, which supports writers and translators and promotes Dutch literature abroad. "He liked the fact that I was in Toronto, a historian, and he would have access for collaboration," said Horn. Irons, who lives in Denmark, specializes in translating poetry from Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German and Dutch into English. When Horn recommended to van Pelt that they get someone to do a proper translation of Koker's poetry, they found Irons through the foundation.

What makes At the Edge of the Abyss special is the quality of Koker's writing, which "is remarkable for its combination of historical significance and penetrating eloquence," wrote the publishers.

Horn says he was drawn to Koker as a person after reading the first page of his work. "He was somebody I could relate to. He was astonishingly well read – he wasn't your average 21-year-old. He describes situations we didn't have any knowledge of."

Right: Michiel Horn

Horn said he was struck by Koker's decision to go to Vught with his family, even though he could have used an exemption he had and then could have gone into hiding. “He believed that the family was absolutely central to Jewish life.” He managed to help his mother and younger brother survive, but both he and his father became ill and died in February 1945, during transport between camps.

"David's death was a calamity for Dutch literature," said Horn. "There is every reason to believe that David would have had a distinguished career as a writer of prose and poetry."

Left: Robert Jan van Pelt

Horn said he wept when he reached the end of the postscript to the Dutch edition, written by David’s brother Max.  "You get so close to your subject when you’re translating. I don't think anyone gets closer to a text than a translator."

At the Edge of the Abyss: A Concentration Camp Diary, 1943-1944, is published by Northwestern University Press (2012), with the support of the Dutch Foundation for Literature.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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She was recommended by Ruth Klein, national director of B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights and executive director of the National Task Force on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (NTF), and Adam Fuerstenberg, Professor Emeritus at Ryerson University and former director of the Holocaust Centre of Toronto. Fuerstenberg is assisting Sapoznik with a book project, Holocaust by Bullets, which looks at the mass murder of Jews in Berezne during World War II. Sapoznik has been invited to make a presentation about her research to a coming meeting of the NTF in Toronto later this year.

“I’m incredibly humbled and honoured and I look forward to the opportunity,” said Sapoznik, who had just returned from an international conference in Sierra Leone, Africa, on forced marriage in conflict situations.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Webber, who retired from 91��ɫ in July, dedicated his career to serving the University and its students. Educated at Harvard and Yale universities, he was a founder of the CCGES and taught at 91��ɫ for 38 years.

At the reception, Webber received a model car as a gift from BMW Canada to mark his retirement.

Left: Christian Feilmeier, VP finance & administration, BMW Canada; Professor Mark Webber; and Sabine Sparwasser, consul general of Germany in Toronto

“Such a turnout is strong testimony to the impact Mark has had not just on institutions, but also on people and their lives,” said , current CCGES director. In addition to a crowd of 91��ɫ faculty, the reception was attended by Sabine Sparwasser, consul general, Federal Republic of Germany and Marek Ciesielczuk, consul general, Republic of Poland.

In 1995, Webber was presented with the Officer’s Cross of the , the German equivalent to the Order of Canada, for his work in fostering German-Canadian and Jewish-Gentile understanding.

He was a key figure in creating the Ontario/Baden-Württemberg Student Exchange Program. For nine years he served as its academic coordinator. It is the largest single student exchange arrangement in Canada.

His legacy includes the Mark & Gail Appel Program in Holocaust and Antiracism Education, which he initiated with his colleague Michael Brown. This project brings together Canadian university students and fellow students from Germany and Poland to explore how best to counter racism through teaching about the Holocaust.

Right: Mark Webber with Professor Michael Brown

"With Mark's departure, 91��ɫ loses one of the people who care most passionately about it and who have worked to build an institution that was different from others: a place where scholarship was harnessed in the service of teaching; a place dedicated to the humanities but no less to the humane; a place where principles counted for much but never more than individuals; a place where people of all backgrounds would always feel comfortable and be eager to learn,” said Brown.

Funds are now being raised to create an award in Webber’s honour. Arrangement for gifts to the fund can be made by calling the 91��ɫ Foundation ������416-650-8210.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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