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| Dr. Peter Gary, 2006. Screenshot from "Glimpses of Heaven", a documentary by Michael Dayan. Source: www.michaeldayan.com |
Dear Friends,
As the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Saanich South, I would
like to acknowledge with sadness the death of Dr. Peter Gary. There are many
people mourning today and I wish them comfort at this most difficult time.
Special condolences to his widow, Ms Judy Esrin, his son and the many
others who loved him deeply.
Dr. Gary lived a remarkable life in his 93 years. As an adult he worked
as a musician and composer. His extraordinary talent led him to be accepted for studies at the same academy attended by Bartok and Kodaly. He had a Ph.D in Musicology from the Sorbonne and
conducted orchestras in France and Germany. He also worked in the film industry
in Hollywood, and as what we would today call a Music Therapist. He taught at
the University of California and at UVIC.
Many of us know of Dr. Gary because of what he experienced before this
illustrious career. He was born in Poland 1924 and was raised in Hungary.
Showing great promise in music, Dr. Gary began studying piano at the age of
5.
By the mid 1930s, however, his life and that of so many others, was
ripped apart as anti-Semitism worsened horribly in Europe with the rise of Nazism in
Germany.
On Christmas Eve, 1941, when he was 17, he and his mother and many other
Jews were taken at gun-point to a ravine where they were stripped, lined up and
machine-gunned. Dr. Gary's mother was immediately hit and soon died. She saved his life by
falling on top of him. In the end he was one of only four people who escaped
the ravine alive. He made it to the Warsaw Ghetto but was eventually captured
and spent years of horror and terror in three different Nazi death camps. When
he was finally liberated by the British he was 21 years old and weighed less
than 76 pounds.
We know these personal and shocking details of his life because Dr. Gary
shared them with us. He was dedicated to remembering the Holocaust. In
fact, Dr. Gary helped found the Victoria Holocaust Remembrance and Education
Society. Over the years he spoke to more than 60,000 people -- mostly young
people -- about his experiences and what he learned from them. He taught people
to learn from the mistakes of the past and to embrace -- not fear or hate --
people who are different. We owe Dr. Gary a great moral debt for his
willingness to share his experiences with our young people. I also want to recognise that he inspired many by showing that it is possible to regain
feelings of joy and hope even after the most painful and cruel experiences
imaginable.
Dr. Gary was very well known in this Constituency and around the world because
of his enthusiasm, passion and warmth. He will be greatly missed but the impact
of his good work will last for generations to come. May his memory continue to inspire us all.
MLA Lana Popham
