Robbie Waisman

Romek “Robbie” Waisman (born 1931) is a Polish-Canadian educator and active member of the Holocaust survivor community in Canada. In 1944, he was interned at the Buchenwald concentration camp and forged strong relationships with the other children imprisoned there. After the war, he briefly lived in France, where he studied and came to terms with his new life as a war orphan.

In 1949, Waisman emigrated to Canada in search of a new life. Since the 1980s, he has become a vocal advocate for Holocaust awareness, devoting himself to consciousness raising at both the local and national level. He has occupied several executive positions in the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, including its presidency. In the years since he began sharing his story, he has spoken to thousands of students about the importance of remembering, and has worked on behalf of the Jewish community to foster solidarity with Canada’s Indigenous communities. Waisman remains a respected voice across Canada and was selected as the recipient of the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award in 2014 for his voluntary service to consciousness raising.