Ginette Kolinka, a resilient 101-year-old survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, has emerged as a powerful voice against antisemitism in France. Now in the twilight of her long life, she finds renewed purpose in sharing her direct knowledge of extreme hatred and inhumanity.

A Legacy of Remembrance

Kolinka often shares a stark warning with those she meets: “If I had a child, well, I would prefer to strangle them with my own hands than make them go through what I went through.” Her frequent interviews ensure that the extermination of 6 million European Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators is not forgotten.

School pupils who listen to Kolinka are embracing the critical duty of remembrance. During a recent visit to a high school in Saint-Maur-des-Fosses, outside Paris on March 21, 2026, students were captivated by her testimony.

The Turning Point: Spielberg's Influence

Kolinka credits filmmaker Steven Spielberg with helping push her toward sharing her story three decades ago. Spielberg’s initiative to collect Holocaust survivor testimonies prompted her to confront decades of buried trauma.

For years, Kolinka was silent, tormented by survivor’s guilt and the eternal regret of not saying goodbye to her father, Léon, and her 12-year-old brother, Gilbert, before they were sent to the gas chambers. In her 2019 memoir, “Return to Birkenau,” she recounted feeling compelled to revisit these painful memories.

When Spielberg’s organization first contacted her, Kolinka was hesitant, believing talking about her past would be a “waste of time.”

The Horrors of Deportation

In World War II, Nazi-occupied France deported 76,000 Jewish men, women, and children, primarily to Auschwitz-Birkenau; only about 2,500 survived. It took 50 years for France’s government to formally acknowledge its role, with then-President Jacques Chirac calling French complicity an “indelible stain” in 1995.

Kolinka is now one of the most prominent remaining French survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau. According to the Paris-based Union of Auschwitz Deportees, fewer than 30 survivors may still be alive.

A Visit to Marcelin Berthelot High School

Kolinka recently recounted her journey at the Marcelin Berthelot high school, where students listened intently. Her story, even in a shortened 90-minute format, is difficult to hear.

She described being crammed with other Jews into windowless animal-transport wagons in Paris. Three days later, they arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau to the sound of barking dogs and screaming Nazi guards.

Kolinka noted that the first German word she learned in the camp was “Schnell!” which means “Move it!” She described the torture of being forced to strip naked as a demure 19-year-old.

“The Nazis’ hatred of Jews was such that they hunted for every detail that could make us suffer, humiliate us,” she stated. Kolinka then showed the students the identification number, 78599, tattooed on her forearm.

Survival and Lasting Impact

Kolinka chose not to tell the teenagers that most of the 1,499 people transported with her on convoy No. 71 from Paris were killed immediately upon arrival. She was among the few hundred spared from the gas chambers to be used for forced labor.

As a prisoner, she witnessed subsequent trains arrive, knowing the fate awaiting those inside. After her presentation, students surrounded her, eager to ask more questions and showing immense admiration.

Students Nour Benguella, 17, and Saratou Soumahoro, 19, both described Kolinka as “Extraordinary.” Benguella added, “An amazing woman. It’s wonderful to have her here in front of us. This strength of testimony, her mental fortitude.”