TORONTO - At an age when most Canadians celebrate their high school graduation, Eugenia Melnikova was captured by the Nazis.
Melnikova, a Ukrainian Jew, was taken from her home in Kyiv in 1941 and brought to the nearby Babi Yar ravine - an infamous killing ground where more than 30,000 Jews were murdered in two days. She was shot, but managed to survive. Melnikova, then 18, escaped under the cover of night and found a woman who agreed to take her in and hide her until the war ended four years later.
Melnikova is just one of the millions of women and men who had their lives cut short by the Second World War and the Holocaust.
Now, a group of Jewish students and a geriatric care centre in Toronto are giving her the chance to experience the adolescent rite of passage she never had.
On Thursday evening, 150 Holocaust survivors from across the Toronto region will pin on corsages and don their best suits to celebrate their senior prom.
The idea comes from a similar prom held by the Jewish student group Hillel for survivors living in Hamilton. It's being organized by Toronto's Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, which is home to almost 1,000 Holocaust survivors.
There will be a decorated gymnasium, prizes, gifts and live music, and members of Hillel will dance and chat with the survivors.
Melnikova said she's looking forward to meeting other survivors and sharing stories.
"We have a lot of survivors (who) passed away, and the leftover survivors are sick," said Melnikova, who came to Canada in 1973 with her daughter after her husband died.
"We're sure happy to spend three hours where we'll talk, where we'll dance, where we'll listen to the concert. We are happy. Everybody's looking forward to it."
Elise Kayfetz, a director of Hillel, came up with the idea for a prom for Holocaust survivors while she was completing her gerontology degree at McMaster University. Hillel organized a similar event for a group of survivors at a care centre in Hamilton.
"It was unbelievable. This one man smiled for the first time in five years," said Kayfetz.
After learning about a social program for Holocaust survivors living at Baycrest, Kayfetz suggested that the centre hold a similar event.
Paula David, a social worker at Baycrest, decided it sounded like a great idea.
"We've never had a group of genocide survivors live to be this old," said David. "Their circles are getting smaller, they're not as mobile as they used to be, so this is a treat."
But it's more than just a fun evening, said Kayfetz.
"We want Holocaust survivors to understand that we care, that we'll never forget what happened to them, but at the same time let's celebrate that we're all here, alive and dancing," she said.
"They're getting older and dying and we need to make sure that we promise them that we'll never forget."
