In Loving Memory of Rose Lipszyc (1929 – 2026)
It is with deep sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Rose Lipszyc z”l–, beloved wife of the late Jack Lipszyc. Cherished daughter of Eliezer and Dvorah Handelsman. Loving mother and mother-in-law of Alan and Sharon Lipszyc, Linda and Howard Hofbauer, and Carol Lipszyc. Dear sister of the late Izzie Handelsman, and Heniek Handelsman. Devoted grandmother of Sarah and Andrew, Madelyn and David, Brittney and Mor, Brooke and Kyle, and Tara, and great grandmother of Delilah, Iver, Meadow, Dawson, Liam, Eyal, and Orli. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Rose’s entire family.
Seated: Rose Lipszyc. Standing left to right: Mark Celinscak, Miriam Libicki, and Charlotte Schallié. Photo Credit: DWM Creative for the Toronto Holocaust Museum, March 25, 2026.
We had the honour of getting to know Rose Lipszyc through the international research project Survivor-Centred Visual Narratives (www.visualnarratives.org), led by the University of Victoria and supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada (SSHRC). The project advances a new way of gathering and documenting the experiences of genocide and mass atrocity survivors by placing survivors’ agency and participation at its centre. A previous anthology pairing four survivors with artists and historians, But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust (New Jewish Press, 2022) / Aber ich lebe: vier Kinder überleben den Holocaust (C.H. Beck, 2022), has won half-a-dozen book awards in Canada and internationally.
Rose Lipszyc began publicly telling her harrowing story of survival in the mid-2010s, after retirement. In Rose’s early teens, after the liquidation of the Lublin ghetto, her mother and two brothers were deported to concentration camps where they were murdered. Rose lost approximately 50 family members during the Holocaust. Rose escaped a forced march after her mother urged her to flee; her grandmother and some gentile neighbours provided her with false identity papers. Posing as Polish Catholic sisters, Rose and her aunt made it through the war while working as forced labourers in the F. Tecklenborg rope factory in Bremen (Germany).
Rose found that her stories were particularly impactful on teenage audiences, who were the same age she had been when she “cheated Hitler” (as she understood the mission her mother had given her). She lent her title and testimony to the 2019 documentary Cheating Hitler. In 2021, Rose was appointed to the Order of Canada for her dedication as a Holocaust educator. Until her final months, Rose spoke to school groups, warning of the dangers of hatred and anger, telling them “Be good to one another and be grateful to live in this country of freedom and peace.”
Rose agreed to collaborate on a graphic novel about her life in 2022. She had already been given high honours for her educational work, and although a lover of literature, she was not very familiar with the graphic art form. Nonetheless, she entered the project with great enthusiasm and open-mindedness, hoping to reach the hearts and minds of even more young people worldwide. She appreciated the rigorous historical approach of our project, but repeatedly warned Dr. Mark Celinscak, the volume’s co-editor and lead historian, “Don’t make it dry!”
In June 2023, graphic novelist Miriam Libicki, Mark Celinscak, Rose Lipszyc, and a film crew spent four full days at Rose’s condo in Toronto. Rose participated in hours-long interviews. During breaks she played the consummate host: feeding everyone from the deli across the street, inviting the team for a swim in her building’s pool, and preparing her second bedroom for Miriam to sleep over. This immersive trip built a strong bond between Rose and everyone on the project. Rose was unfailingly warm but also incredibly candid, with sharp observations of character. She connected easily with her childhood feelings, from the sustaining love of her aunt Rose, to anger at the petty tyrannies of slave labour, to enduring grief for her lost toddler brother, “the love of my life,” Heniek Handelsman.
We vividly remember our first meeting with Rose. We hoped to spend several hours with her on that first day, learning more about her experiences. During our first recorded interview, she shared painful stories of the Holocaust. She spoke with great energy and intensity. After an hour or so, she abruptly stood up and said, “I am tired and I think that’s enough for today. We can pick it up tomorrow.” She thanked us and walked out of the room. As we packed up our supplies, and headed for the front door, we checked on Rose who was lying on her bed, facing the window. We recognized how much she had given us that morning, how much sharing the story had drained her. We worried that we were asking too much of her. When we returned the next morning, Rose met us once again with great positivity and energy. We told her we were mindful of how taxing this could be for her. She appreciated it and then told us: “When I share my story, it is a way to keep the memory of my loved ones alive. If I don’t do it, who will?” Her commitment to Holocaust education was deeply impressive to us all. It was also a reminder of the importance of the work we were trying to complete.
Miriam spent the next two years composing a script from Rose’s transcribed recollections, conducting further research with assistance from the SCVN team, and painting the graphic novel. Rose had a great way with words in English, and a keen sense of dramatic irony. Miriam and Rose co-created dialogue to flesh out scenes from the war, over a series of videoconference calls. Miriam shared her script draft, and they read it aloud, with Rose offering factual corrections, memories of the people involved, and “punched up” the word choices.
Cover of Two Roses: A Story of Deception and Determination in Nazi Germany (2026) by Miriam Libicki & Rose Lipszyc. Edited by Mark Celinscak and Charlotte Schallié. Photo Credit: DWM Creative for the Toronto Holocaust Museum, March 25, 2026.
Rose’s memory was deep and accurate. In August 2024, Miriam traveled with historian Dr. Andrea Löw to Bremen-Grohn, where Rose’s factory had been located. Local German historians of the Second World War escorted Miriam around and helped her consult archival documents, including Rose’s falsified personnel file. Miriam told them that Rose had recalled fleeing from Allied bombings to a bomb shelter built into a hillside near the factory. The local historians initially told Miriam that there was no such shelter in the area. Before her arrival, however, they confirmed that the shelter had indeed existed and was still standing. Later, when Miriam showed Rose photographs she had taken of the shelter entrance and the semi-hidden air vent on top of the hill, Rose said, “I was shaking all over.”
Between 2024 and 2026, Miriam travelled several times to Toronto to meet with Rose in person as Rose faced a series of health setbacks. Nevertheless, Rose remained passionately committed to the book’s completion. She continued to work on the edits together with Miriam from a hospital bed after fracturing her hip, declaring, “I’m the woman with nine lives!”
Upon the book’s publication in spring 2026, the Toronto Holocaust Museum hosted a launch in partnership with the Survivor-Centred Visual Narratives project. Two Roses: A Story of Deception and Determination in Nazi Germany sold out at the standing-room-only event. The museum, members of the greater Toronto Jewish community and government officials paid tribute to Rose. Joining Rose on stage were graphic artist Miriam Libicki, and co-editors Mark Celinscak and Charlotte Schallié. The panel was moderated by York University’s Dr. Sara Horowitz. The whole team feels blessed that Rose experienced the book launch and saw the massive outpouring of love and gratitude for herself and her work.
We will miss our dear Rose very much.
With deepest gratitude and immense respect. May her memory be for a blessing.
Miriam Libicki, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Dr. Mark Celinscak, Dallas, TX, USA
Dr. Charlotte Schallié, Victoria, BC, Canada