Eddy Sterk lived in Holland at the beginning of the war. As his father worked in a hospital, Eddy and his family were able to evade the early deportations, which slowly saw Amsterdam’s Jews transported “to the east”.  Eddy’s siblings were eventually taken, and soon after Eddy and his parents were rounded up as well.  Eddy was placed into several prison camps, including Westerbork and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Eddy was lucky to survive an injury he suffered while performing forced labour near Birkenau.  He also survived the death marches in the winter of 1944-45, as the camp was evacuated as the Red Army drew near.  Eddy was later liberated by the Americans and he returned to Holland, where he was fortunate to be reunited with his parents.

Eddy was interviewed at Baycrest’s Cafe Europa by Crestwood student Matt Laramie in 2009; in 2010, Eddy again welcomed us and sat down with Sam Wasserman and Madi Brown.  And in 2012, Eddy agreed to be interviewed again, this time by Emma Myers, Brandon Lee, and Thomas Yanovski.