Upcoming Events
UPCOMING LUNCH-AND-LEARN PROGRAMS:
12:00 - 1:00pm (Pacific Time) Every Tuesday. Join us for our weekly Lunch-and-Learn series to hear children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, notable speakers on timely issues, and historical experts.
These programs aim to present perspectives and voices that challenge and inspire people to confront bigotry, racism, and indifference, and to consider how their actions make a difference.
Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed in these programs are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of the Holocaust Center for Humanity and its employees.
VIEW PREVIOUS LUNCH-AND-LEARN PROGRAMS
April marks Genocide Awareness Month and our three Lunch-and-Learn programs will each focus on a different aspect of genocide.
Love, Resilience, and Creativity during Genocide and Mass Atrocities
Presented by Dr. Marie Berry
Tuesday, April 13 | 12pm-1pm PT | Virtual
Over the past 15 years of studying genocide and mass atrocities, Marie Berry has interviewed more than 300 women who have survived unfathomable horrors in places like Rwanda and Bosnia-Herzegovina. While many told stories of fear, loss, and pain, what sticks with her today is how so many women also described loving deeply, finding humor, building communities, and not only surviving, but even thriving during and after the violence.
In this talk, Dr. Berry will show how during periods of mass atrocity, human beings have long resisted through solidarity, art, non-violent direct action, and other creative strategies to reclaim their humanity together. These forms of everyday resistance are critical for us to understand to improve our ability to stop genocide and other mass atrocities going forward.
Marie Berry is an Associate Professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver and the author of “War, Women, and Power” from Cambridge University Press (2018).
Thank you to The Frances Roth & Stanley R. Schill Foundation for sponsoring this presentation
Thank you to our community partners: 
Experiences of Syrian Women: Revolution, War, and Uncertainty
Presented by Ahed Festuk and Hope Leone
Tuesday, April 20 | 12pm-1pm PT | Virtual
Join the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees (MFA) to learn about the humanitarian crisis confronting the women of Syria in the 10th year of the brutal civil war. Learn about the situation on the
ground, MFA’s relief efforts, and hear first-hand from Ahed Festuk, an activist from Aleppo, who was among the earliest protest organizers and relief workers—and now works to deliver desperately needed aid to her native country.
This program features:
Ahed Festuk, MFA’s Manager of Humanitarian Relief, an activist from Aleppo, Syria, and one of Syria's pioneer women demonstrators. In 2019, she joined the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees as Manager of Humanitarian Relief and is a prominent member of the Syrian Women's Political Movement.
Hope Leone, MFA’s Coordinator of Development & Cultivation who previously led a student organization called No Lost Generation, founded to support Syrian refugees by promoting awareness, organizing advocacy on Capitol Hill, fundraising, and creating educational resources for refugees.
Thank you to The Frances Roth & Stanley R. Schill Foundation for sponsoring this presentation
Thank you to community partners:
My Family and the Rwandan Genocide
Presented by Paul Karemera
Tuesday, April 27 | 12pm-1pm PT | Virtual
Even though they had fled Rwanda years prior to its civil war, the far-reaching events of the war and genocide still had deep impacts on Paul Karemera and his family. Paul tells the story of his family in Rwanda and Uganda, the history of Rwandan conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi people, and the events of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Paul’s grandparents on both sides of his family left their homes in Rwanda in 1959 and became refugees in neighboring Uganda. They belonged to the Tutsi tribe – the group targeted in the Rwandan genocide. As a young student, Paul was harassed and bullied as an outsider in Uganda, despite having been born there. Shortly after the genocide, Paul went back to Rwanda as a “returnee” to the country. Many friends and family had not survived. Nationwide, the genocide’s wounds were still raw. Gacaca courts for restorative justice were instituted, but many Hutu perpetrators were never apprehended.
Paul is the newest member of the Holocaust Center’s Speakers Bureau and the first member who speaks about the Rwandan genocide.
Thanks to our community partners:
Belonging, and Not Belonging: A Holocaust Survivor's Daughter in the
World of Horses
Sarah Maslin Nir in conversation with Professor Sarah Zaides Rosen
Tuesday, May 4 | 12pm-1pm PT | Virtual
Horses are symbols of power, beauty, and often social standing and for many young girls and women, they can become an all-consuming passion. For the young Sarah Maslin Nir and Sarah Zaides Rosen, this interest was much more than a passing phase—it led into a privileged world they thought they could never be part of as Jewish women and the offspring of Holocaust survivors.
“Even when I was that young, even before I fully understood what it meant when dad told me he survived the Holocaust…I knew that somehow I was an outsider in the world I had become infatuated with—the world of ponies,” noted Nir. For Rosen, it blossomed into equestrian competitions. But for both, the world of horses represented a milieu far removed from the stories of hardship they had heard from their families who had escaped the Holocaust.
Nir is an award-winning staff reporter for The New York Times and author of the acclaimed, “Horse Crazy: The Story of a Woman and a World in Love with an Animal.”
Rosen received her PhD at the University of Washington and currently serves as the Associate Director of the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies at the UW as well as the Director of the Graduate Fellowship Program. She raised and trained her Hanoverian Warmblood, Misha, since he was just 5 years old.
Fleeing Germany: My Family’s Story
Presented by Steve Pruzan
Tuesday, May 11 | 12pm-1pm | Virtual
Seattle attorney Steve Pruzan is a long way from his grandparent’s farm in Germany, yet he feels a deep responsibility to keep their story of escape to the United States alive.
Steve’s grandparents, Max and Helene Schlonau, owned a large farm in Warmsen, Germany for many generations, a gathering place for nearby family. His grandfather, Max Schlonau, served in World War I. He had studied agriculture, enlarging his land holdings, and employed the most updated agricultural methods, even inventing a breeding method for cattle. He was a leader in the area and in the small Jewish community in Warmsen.
Max and Helene married in 1923 and Steve’s mother, Inge was born in 1924. After Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, things got progressively more difficult for the Schlonau family. Inge had to take a five-hour train ride to Hanover to attend a Jewish school as Jewish children were not allowed in German schools. Max was arrested on Kristallnacht and held at Buchenwald Concentration Camp for three weeks until his wife paid a fine to get him released.
By 1938, they had made plans to leave Germany. Helene had a cousin who was already settled in Seattle, Dr. Hans Lehmann. Lehman provided the Schlonaus with an affidavit, and with Max’s agriculture experience, the family was able to expedite the visa process.
They sailed from the Netherlands on September 1, 1939. The Schlonaus family settled in Seattle where Dr. Lehmann was a prominent physician and Steve’s mother, Inge attended Seattle University, graduating with a degree in nursing. She married Howard Pruzan, a Seattle attorney.
Steve, a Legacy Speaker with the Holocaust Center, is proud to tell this story of his grandparents, his mother, and other family members who survived the Holocaust. He has done extensive research on their lives in Germany and presents primary sources that reveal just how lucky they were to escape and immigrate to the United States.
Click HERE to view previous Lunch-and-Learn programs
Thank you to our 2021 Lunch-and-Learn Sponsors:
The Frances Roth & Stanley R. Schill Foundation
Thank you to the grantors, companies, and individuals who have made this year's Lunch-and-Learn series possible. If you or your company are interested in sponsoring one or more Lunch-and-Learns throughout the year, please contact Nicole Bela: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Educating for Change: Learning from the Past to Create a Better Future
Thursday, April 15, 2021
11am-12:30pm | Virtual
For Educators!
Holocaust education is history, literature, social studies, psychology, art, and so much more. Join Washington State's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Holocaust Center for Humanity on April 15 at 11am as we engage with learning around Holocaust education, state requirements, bias in society, and opportunities to advocate for a more just and tolerant society.
registration
Powell Professional Development Series 2021
From Reflection to Action: Teaching for Civic Agency
Thursday, May 6, 2021 | 3:30 - 5:30pm (PT) | Zoom
Offered in partnership with Facing History and Ourselves. 2 Clock Hours.
Racism, antisemitism, and other forms of bigotry—which were at the root of so much of the inhumanity of the twentieth century—have not gone away. How does learning about the history of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust educate us about our responsibilities in the world today? What must individuals do and value in order to bring about a more humane, just, and compassionate world and a more democratic society?
Explore frameworks, resources, and teaching strategies that empower students to envision the ways that they themselves might contribute to the process of creating a more humane, just, and compassionate world. Using Facing History’s pedagogical approach, participants will consider how our memory and understanding of history inspires and guides our choices in the world today.
Participants will receive resources, teaching strategies and examples of student-centered civic action projects that inspire students to use their voices, strengthen their civic agency, and choose to participate in democracy today.
As a result of this workshop, educators will:
- Explore our new Facing History resource on responding to injustice “From Reflection to Action: A Choosing to Participate Toolkit.”
- Walk away with examples of student-led civic action projects that will empower them to take meaningful action in their communities based on the legacy of the Holocaust.
- Learn a new way of structuring curriculum to help students connect history to their own lives and the choices they make today.
- Practice teaching strategies and classroom activities that reinforce historical thinking and critical literacy skills.
- Receive ongoing curricular support and consultation with Facing History facilitators.
Presenter: Brian Fong is the Associate Program Director for the Northern California regional office of Facing History and Ourselves. Brian supports educators and school districts in developing inclusive and equitable learning environments through the study of literature and history. Brian has taught middle and high school social studies and humanities since 2003 and is a National Board Certified Social Studies Teacher.
Special thanks to:
Powell Family Foundation - Carol P. Heller and Nancy E. Powell Divisions
Powell Professional Development Series 2021
Day of Learning: Essential Lessons for Teaching the Holocaust
Tuesday, June 29, 2021 | Zoom | Clock Hours Provided
- Focus on practical teaching strategies and resources
- Provide lessons and materials that teachers can implement in their classrooms
- Build on the Holocaust Center for Humanity's Best Practices
Register for one session or multiple. Teaching materials are geared towards grades 5 and up unless otherwise specified.
Session 1: Pyramid of Hate
9:15-10:15am (PT) | Beth Poole, Briar Terrace Middle School, Edmonds, and member of the Holocaust Center's Educators for Change
Bias-motivated violence, in addition to genocide, represent mere tips of an iceberg; an end result that is seen. Beneath what we can see lie attitudes, behaviors, actions and inactions that, if unchecked, create the conditions necessary for that end, tragic result. Unchecked, those attitudes and behaviors become normalized, with the potential to escalate. This lesson, with at least two options, engages students to consider that bias-motivated violence and genocide are not inevitable, encouraging them to realize that their actions (and inactions) have consequences, and that they CAN make a difference.
Session 2: Why Didn't They Just Leave?
10:30-11:30am (PT) | Branda Anderson, Kamiak High School, Edmonds, and member of the Holocaust Center's Educators for Change
One of the most frequently asked questions by students when they study the Holocaust is, "Why didn't they just leave?" This lesson challenges students to consider the complexities of leaving, the barriers to entering other countries, the difficult, sometimes impossible, choices refugees must make, and the bias of hindsight.
Image: "The Refugee" by Felix Nussbaum (1939)
Session 3: Lunch-and-Learn - How To Use the "Master's Tools"...or not
12:00-1:00pm (PT) | Kendall Pinkney
Among the many critical social issues that have filled the headlines over the past years, the push for financial reparations (to address the enduring legacy of American slavery) among some activists has become a hot-button topic that has garnered much debate. While it is impossible to settle such a complex matter, what ideas might Jewish text offer us in our wrestling with such a complex issue?
Kendell Pinkney is a Brooklyn based theatre-maker, Jewish-life consultant, and rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary. While he was most recently featured in Saturday Night Seder and on the Crooked Media podcast Unholier than Thou, his collaborative works have been presented at venues such as 54 Below, Joe’s Pub, the 14th St. Y, and Two River Theatre, to name a few. In addition to his creative work, he is the rabbinic intern for the Jewish arts and culture organizations Reboot and LABA, and serves on the Spiritual Direction team at Ammud: The Jews of Color Torah Academy.
Session 4: Post Lunch-and-Learn Discussion
1:15-1:45pm (PT) | Ilana Cone Kennedy, Director of Education, Holocaust Center for Humanity
Session 5: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany
2:00-3:00pm (PT) | Paul Regelbrugge, Teaching and Learning Specialist, Holocaust Center for Humanity
This series of lessons spotlights another group singled out by the Nazis during the Holocaust: Black people in Germany, also known as “Afro-Germans.” There were only 20,000 Black people living among a population of 65 million people in Germany in 1933. Yet, “German authorities routinely and viciously persecuted and discriminated against German residents of African descent,” planning for their eventual disappearance through a forced sterilization policy.
Special thanks to:
Powell Family Foundation - Carol P. Heller and Nancy E. Powell Divisions
Educating for Change: Learning from the Past to Create a Better Future
Thursday, April 15, 2021
11am-12:30pm | Virtual
For Educators!
Holocaust education is history, literature, social studies, psychology, art, and so much more. Join Washington State's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Holocaust Center for Humanity on April 15 at 11am as we engage with learning around Holocaust education, state requirements, bias in society, and opportunities to advocate for a more just and tolerant society.
registration
Virtual Wallenberg Event
Nordic National Museum
Sunday, June 13 | 12:30pm-1:30pm
The National Nordic Museum’s Annual Wallenberg Event, initiated by Washington State Senator Ken Jacobsen, is an opportunity to honor Raoul Wallenberg’s selfless humanitarianism, as well as a way to bring together the Scandinavian and Jewish communities to celebrate his inspirational legacy.
The 26th Annual Wallenberg Event will feature Dr. Michelle Facos, Professor of Art History and Jewish Studies at Indiana University. Dr. Facos will give an overview of Jewish life in Sweden around the year 1900, paying special attention to the myriad of Jewish contributions to Swedish national identity. The lecture will give context the world that Raoul Wallenberg grew up in.
Cost: $5 for Nordic Museum Members; $10 general admission
more information & registration