Upcoming Events

In the late 1920's, there were 1,500 Jewish people living in the Krefeld, Germany. One of them was young Rolf Gompertz. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Rolf remembers his world changing. On November 9, 1938, Nazi soldeiers banged at the door of his parents' apartment, demanding to be let in. They stormed into the apartment, ready to arrest Rolf's father. The Nazi's left before arresting him, but that night they would arrest 30,000 other Jewish men in what became known as Kristallnacht, a turning point in the Holocaust. Rolf would prove to be one of the lucky Jewish individuals to find refuge in the United States. Rolf's son Ron, tells his father's story of antisemitism and persecution and eventually building a new life as an immigrant in the United States.

Ron Gompertz works in the tech industry, a published author, and is a member of the Holocaust Center's Speakers Bureau.

October 26, 2021 | The Ravine: A Family, A Photograph, A Holocaust Massacre Revealed

With Dr. Wendy Lower

In 2009, Dr. Wendy Lower, the acclaimed author of Hitler’s Furies, was shown a photograph newly revealed to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. While the documentation of the Holocaust is vast, there are only a few known images of Jewish families at the actual moment of murder, in this disturbing photo, by German officials and Ukrainian collaborators.

Dr. Lower’s detective work—in Ukraine, Germany, Slovakia, Israel, and the United States—recovers astonishing layers of detail concerning the open-air massacres in Ukraine. Her search for the identities of the victims, of the killers—and, remarkably, of the photographer who openly took the picture, as a secret act of resistance—are dramatically uncovered. Finally, in the hands of this scholar, a single image unlocks a new understanding of the place of the family unit in the history and aftermath of Nazi genocide.

Wendy Lower, Ph.D., is the John K. Roth Professor of History and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College and chairs the Academic Committee of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and served as its Acting Director at the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies.

October 19, 2021 | My Family's Story: Survival, Escape, and Immigration

With Daphna Robon

Daphna Robon tells the story of her parents, Imre Friedmann and Naomi Kraus. Both natives of Budapest, Hungary, they endured not only the antisemitism of pre-war Europe, but the persecution of the Nazi regime; Imre in a labor camp and Naomi hidden in a Swiss “safe house” under a false identity. Following the war, Imre escaped to Vienna where he was able to earn his Ph.D., eventually immigrating to become a professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem where he met Naomi. She also earned a Ph.D. at the university and they eventually relocated to the U.S. to highly successful careers.

Daphna was born in Israel and spent most of her childhood years in Houston, Texas. She now lives in the Seattle area with her family and began sharing her family story as a Holocaust Center speaker in 2021.

October 12, 2021 | That is 800 Children: Nazi Germany, the United States, and (Dismantling) Global Anti-Blackness

With Dr. Emanuela Kucik

What is the relationship between Nazi Germany and anti-Blackness—and of the role of the United States in that relationship? Dr. Emanuela Kucik will provide an expanded narrative of the Holocaust and of racialized violence around the world to better understand the global intersections of oppressive systems. In showing how these connected structures sustain each other, she will demonstrate that dismantling one piece of systemic oppression will begin to unravel the others.

Dr. Emanuela Kucik is an Assistant Professor of English and Africana Studies and the Co-Director of the Africana Studies Program at Muhlenberg College. She is committed to intertwining scholarship and activism to highlight how literature can combat genocide, its precursors, and its reverberations.

October 6, 2021 | Restitution After WWII: Suing Hitler's Business Partners - With Professor Michael Bazyler, Chapman University

A Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Program | 1 Law and Legal Procedure Washington State Bar Credit Available through NOVEMBER 6, 2021. Watch the recording and apply independently through the Washington State Bar Association for CLE credit with Activity #1175064.

5. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-1447/159037/20201028173235296_Simon%20Philipp%20-%20Amicus%20Brief%20FINAL.pdf

The Holocaust was both the greatest mass murder and the greatest theft in modern history. This presentation will discuss how America’s civil justice system provided a measure of long overdue justice to Holocaust victims and heirs. We examine claims for return of Nazi-looted art, stolen Jewish real property in Europe, Holocaust-era insurance policies, slave labor, and bank deposits held by Swiss banks. Our focus will be on both past and ongoing litigation, including the latest Nazi-looted Holocaust case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2021 (Phillip v. Germany), for which the speaker co-authored an amicus brief. We will also touch upon efforts to use the Holocaust restitution model as a template for other suits involving historical atrocities, including African-American reparations.

Michael Bazyler is a professor of law and the 1939 Law Scholar in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies at Chapman University. He has authored seven books and more than two dozen law review articles, book chapters, and essays on subjects covering Law and the Holocaust and restitution following genocide and other mass atrocities.

Thank you to our sponsor: Homestreet Bank. | Thank you to our Community Partners: Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, Cordozo Society of Washington State, and Foster Garvey. | Thank you to our Lawyers Committee: Ruth Atherton, Marc Boman, Kathy Feldman, Christina MacDonald, Chuck Maduell, Jay Riffkin, Rob Spitzer, Jeff Sprung

CLE Lecture Readings

1. www.swissbankclalims.com: The Legacy and Morality of the Holocaust-Era Settlement with the Swiss Banks. By Michael Bazyler. Fordham International Law Journal.

2. Suing Hitler's Willing Business Partners: American Justice and Holocaust Morality. By Michael Bazyler. Jewish Political Studies Review (Fall 2004)

3. Trading with the Enemy: Holocaust Restitution, the United States Government, and American Industry. By Michael Bazyler and Amber Fitzgerald. Brooklyn Works (2003)

4. Supreme Court Denies Holocaust Victims' Property Claims Against Nazi Germany, Hungary. By Jess Bravin. Wall Street Journal (Feb. 3, 2021)

September 28, 2021 | Ordinary Men Revisited Three Decades Later - With Dr. Christopher Browning

What turns an ordinary man into a cold-hearted murderer? Nearly 30 years ago, author Christopher Browning brought us the dark history of those whose duty it was to accomplish the Nazi Final Solution in Ordinary Men. The book documented the true story of Reserve Police Battalion 101 of the German Order Police, a paramilitary formation of men comprised of average, middle-aged working class German men who were responsible for mass shootings as well as round-ups of Jewish people for deportation to Nazi death camps in Poland in 1942. Browning’s book examined how quickly these seemingly ordinary people were twisted by ideological indoctrination, loyalty to the battalion, and ultimately cowardice and bigotry, to sink into the depths of savagery under Hitler to murder millions of Jewish people and other “undesirables.”

This talk will look at the origins and initial arguments of the book, the critiques it faced in the 1990s, and subsequent developments in Perpetrator Studies.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Amnesty International Seattle Group 4, Jewish Family Service

September 21, 2021 | The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos With Judy Batalion

While conducting research on poet and Special Operations Executive member Hanna Senesh, Judy Batalion unexpectedly found the 1946 Yiddish book, Freuen in di Ghettos (Women in the Ghettos), filled with accounts about young Jewish women who defied the Nazis. These Polish-Jewish “ghetto girls” paid off Gestapo guards, hid revolvers in teddy bears, flirted with Nazis, and shot them. They distributed underground bulletins, flung Molotov cocktails, bombed German supply trains, organized soup kitchens, and were bearers of the truth about what was happening to the Jews. In this discussion, Judy will relay several of these women’s stories, describe her years of research into the history of Polish-Jewish resistance, and discuss why so many of these tales remained hidden for so long.

Join Judy Batalion, New York Times-bestselling author of the highly-acclaimed The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos, published by William Morrow in April 2021. The Light of Days has been published in a young readers’ edition, will be translated into nineteen languages, and has been optioned by Steven Spielberg for a major motion picture for which Judy is co-writing the screenplay.

September 14, 2021 | More Than Any Child Should Know: Holocaust Center launches new graphic novel

Pre-Order the book

Steve Adler personified the remarkable strength and resilience of so many of our local Holocaust survivors, dedicating much of his life to telling his story to inspire students to confront bigotry and indifference and take action.

In 2021, the Holocaust Center began developing a graphic novel based on Steve’s experience during the Kindertransport, which delivered thousands of Jewish children out of Nazi-controlled areas and into safety.

Recent research from Northwestern and others shows that graphic novels are excellent for readers of all levels as they challenge the brain to interpret both text and images, adding complexity to the storytelling and history.

Join novel co-authors Paul Regelbrugge and Julia Thompson, both team members with the Education department at the Holocaust Center, artist Sean Dougherty, and special guest, Barbara West, Steve Adler's daughter, as they explore the process it took to take Steve’s story from concept to reality.

Thank you to our Community Partners: Amnesty International Seattle Group 4, Jewish Family Service

July 27, 2021 | Unstoppable: Siggi B. Wilzig’s Astonishing Journey from Auschwitz Survivor and Penniless Immigrant to Wall Street Legend

With author and biographer Joshua M. Greene and special guest Ivan Wilzig, son of Siggi Wilzig

As a teenager, Siggi Wilzig used his wits to stay alive in Auschwitz, pretending to have trade skills the Nazis could exploit to run the camp. After two death marches and near starvation, he was liberated from Mauthausen and went to work for the U.S. Army hunting Nazis, a service that earned him a visa to America. On arrival, he made three vows: to never go hungry again, to support the Jewish people, and to speak out against injustice. He began his career selling neckties from the trunk of his car, and in little more than a decade rose to become CEO of both a publicly traded oil company and a bank with assets in excess of $4 billion.

Joshua M. Greene is a renowned Holocaust scholar and filmmaker whose biographies have sold more than a half-million copies worldwide.

July 20, 2021 | Losing and Finding Jewish Identity: A Journey from Post-War Communist Hungary to America With Judy Temes

In 1969, when Judy Temes was just five years old, she was left by her parents seeking to escape Communist Hungary. With borders sealed, there were few options for crossing the East-West divide. Her father—a Holocaust survivor desperate to leave behind Hungary's totalitarian government and the legacy of the Holocaust—used tourist visas to take his wife and 12-year-old son to the West. These visas came at a high price: one child would need to be left behind. Left with an antisemitic uncle in a destitute Hungarian village, five-year-old "Juditka" had to cope with not only her parent's apparent desertion, but questions about her real identity and what it means to be a Jew. Judy documented her story in the heartrending book, Girl Left Behind.

Judy Temes teaches middle school humanities in Seattle's Torah Day School and is a former business reporter.

Thank you to our community partner: Torah Day School of Seattle

July 13, 2021 | Resistance Fighter and Holocaust Survivor Carla Peperzak in Conversation with Dr. Ray Sun

In May of 2021 it was announced that a new middle school in Spokane would be named Carla Peperzak Middle School.

Next year, Carla Peperzak Middle School will invite its students to draw inspiration from its namesake, a woman who fought the Nazis to save Jewish people during the Holocaust.

At the age of 18, Carla Peperzak joined the Dutch resistance. She helped save her aunt, uncle, and two cousins, hiding them at a farmhouse in the Dutch countryside. Later, disguised as a German nurse, Carla rescued her young cousin from a deportation train. Throughout the war, she continued to secure hiding places for Jews, published an underground newspaper, and created fake identification papers and ration cards. While Carla and her immediate family survived the Holocaust, 18 members of her family did not.

Dr. Raymond Sun is Associate Professor of History at Washington State University with a specialty in Holocaust and genocide studies.

Thanks to our community partners: Washington State University - History Department, Dutch in Seattle, The Woman's Century Club

June 29, 2021 | How to Use the "Master's Tools"...Or Not with Kendell Pinkney

Embracing our Humanity and Diversity Series Sponsored by Verizon - Part 4 of 4

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. He was 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.

Thank you to our community partners: Northwest African American Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Wing Luke Museum

June 22, 2021 | The History of Anti-Asian Hatred and the WWII Japanese-American Incarceration

with Tom Ikeda

Embracing our Humanity and Diversity Series Sponsored by Verizon - Part 3 of 4

Join Tom Ikeda, executive director of Densho, an organization dedicated to preserving, educating, and sharing the story of World War II-era incarceration of Japanese Americans, who will share a brief history of anti-Asian hate in the United States. He will also discuss his own family’s personal experiences during WWII, when his parents and grandparents were incarcerated in the Minidoka, Idaho internment camp, and why this history is important to understanding and improving equity today.

Tom Ikeda is the founding Executive Director of Densho. Tom is a sansei (third-generation Japanese American) who was born and raised in Seattle. In addition to leading the organization over the last 24 years, Tom has conducted more than 250 video-recorded, oral history interviews with Japanese Americans, receiving numerous awards for his community and historical contributions.

Thanks to our community partners: Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial, Densho, Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Wing Luke Museum

June 15, 2021 | Becoming Bielski: A Personal Story of the Bielski Partisans with Sharon Rennert

Embracing our Humanity and Diversity Series Sponsored by Verizon - Part 2 of 4

The Bielski Partisans bravely achieved the largest armed rescue of Jews by Jews during the Holocaust and have grown to tens of thousands of descendants around the world. Their story inspired the Hollywood film “Defiance” starring Daniel Craig as real-life partisan commander Tuvia Bielski. Tuvia’s granddaughter, Sharon Rennert, is a documentary filmmaker who has been exploring her family history for almost two decades. She will share her discoveries about her legacy which has taken her on a worldwide journey from Brooklyn to Belarus and has helped her build a rich family archive that provides uniquely personal insights into the inspirational heroes and survivors of the Bielski Partisans.

Sharon Rennert is a television editor, independent filmmaker, swing dancer, and public speaker. She has been editing documentary and reality programs for over twenty-five years and is an active member of American Cinema Editors and the Motion Picture Editors Guild. She shares the Bielski story whenever possible to help honor the memory of her grandparents and pass this important part of Jewish history on through the generations.

Thanks to our community partners: Seattle Art Museum, Wing Luke Museum

June 8, 2021 | Creative Inspiration: Winners of the 2021 Holocaust Writing, Art, & Film Contest

Join us for this special edition of our Tuesday Lunch-and-Learn program. With more than 577 entries from 55 schools, we'll meet the winners of this year's Holocaust Writing, Art, and Film contest--the students who are carrying on the stories of the Holocaust and transforming this history into action. Learn about what inspired them and join us in celebrating their work.

With special guests, Holocaust survivors Henry Friedman and Carla Peperzak.

For a complete list of the winners and their entries, visit the Writing, Art, & Film Contest page.

June 1, 2021 | If Not Now, When? A Case for Allyship in Difficult Times | With Hilary Bernstein

If Not Now When A Case for Allyship in Difficult Times With Hilary Bernstein Embracing our Humanity and Diversity Series - Sponsored by Verizon | Part 1 of 4

One lesson we have learned from the Holocaust is the terrible cost of complicity. We know what happens when good people choose to look the other way in the face of hatred and bigotry. In 2021, how can we overcome our own tendencies to remain silent when encountering examples of prejudice and bias? Join us to examine a framework for active allyship, along with strategies for engaging in conversations that lead to meaningful connections with others.

Hilary Bernstein is a respected education consultant, with nearly 20 years’ experience facilitating discussions focused on bias, diversity, and creating positive change. Prior to consulting, she was Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League in the Pacific NW for 15 years, where she addressed antisemitism and other forms of prejudice and bigotry throughout a five-state region.

Thank you to VERIZON for sponsoring this 1st talk in a 4-part series: "Embracing our Humanity and Diversity."

Thanks to our community partners: Anti-Defamation League Pacific Northwest | Seattle Art Museum | Wing Luke Museum

May 25, 2021 | The Train I Missed: A Hidden Child in Holland during the Holocaust

A miraculous story of survival, family, and community, the documentary film, “The Train I Missed” follows the journey of retired Dutch businessman, Ernst Van Gelderen, as he revisits his experiences as a hidden child during the Holocaust.

Ernie was a 3-year-old Jewish child growing up in The Hague, Netherlands in 1942 when his parents made the heart-wrenching choice to place him into hiding without them. This begins a miraculous tale of survival and sacrifice set against the horror and tragedy of the Holocaust. Interwoven with the past, Ernst takes us on an emotional journey to revisit the sites of his experiences as a hidden child.

Michael Kleven and Elke Hautala are performing artists who decided to step behind the camera. They have created over 15 film projects together from short form promotional to music videos to feature documentaries.

Thanks to our community partner: Herz-ner Tamid

May 18, 2021 | One Voice, Two Lives: How Music Saved My Grandfather in Auschwitz

Award-winning singer Avi Wisnia shares the stories and songs of his grandfather, Cantor David S. Wisnia, tracing his grandfather’s harrowing journey from young Polish singing star to Auschwitz prisoner to American liberator with the 101st Airborne. Cantor Wisnia’s remarkable singing voice helped save him in the Nazi concentration camp.

The program explores the importance of preserving David’s stories of survival, as chronicled in his memoir “One Voice, Two Lives.” Avi touches on the Wisnias’ return to Poland to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, as well as the powerful intergenerational connection featuring music performed by David Wisnia and his grandson. This story highlights the urgency of keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive and passing on this legacy from generation to generation.

May 11, 2021 | Fleeing Germany: My Family's Story

Seattle attorney Steve Pruzan is a long way from his grandparents' 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.

In 1938, with Germany under Nazi control, they fled Germany for the United States. Their grandson, Steve Pruzan will share their story of discrimination, escape, tenacity, and eventually rebuilding.

Steve, a Legacy Speaker on the Holocaust Center's Speakers Bureau, 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.

Thank you to our community partners: Temple De Hirsch Sinai, Jewish Family Service, Washington State Jewish Historical Society

May 4, 2021 | Belonging, and Not Belonging: A Holocaust Survivor's Daughter in the World of Horses

Sarah Maslin Nir in conversation with Dr. Sarah Zaides Rosen

“Even when I was that young, even before I fully understood what it meant when dad told me he survived the Holocaust, masquerading as a Catholic with a false baptismal certificate when he was just nine years old in Poland, I knew that somehow I was an outsider in the world I had become infatuated with – the world of ponies.” - Sarah Maslin Nir

Sarah Maslin 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.

Dr. Sarah Zaides 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 University of Washington as well as the Director of the Graduate Fellowship Program. She is also a competitive equestrian.

April 27, 2021 | My Family and the Rwandan Genocide presented by Paul Karemera

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: Together We Remember Coalition, Pacific Lutheran University's Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program

April 20, 2021 | Experiences of Syrian Women: Revolution, War, and Uncertainty presented by Ahed Festuk and Hope Leone

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 Hope Leone 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: Together We Remember Coalition, Pacific Lutheran University's Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program

April 13, 2021 | Love, Resilience, and Creativity during Genocide and Mass Atrocities Presented by Dr. Marie Berry

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: Together We Remember Coalition, Pacific Lutheran University's Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program

April 8, 2021 | Yom Hashoah: Holocaust Remembrance Day

Remembering the 6 million Jewish people and the millions of Non-Jewish people murdered in the Holocaust

The program included:

Ingrid and Maud: A Holocaust Story of a Rescuer and the Rescued

Featuring special guests Ingrid Steppic and Maud Dahme. Ingrid and Maud met when they were young girls - one Jewish and seeking refuge from the Nazis, the other part of a family helping to hide Jewish people. Join us for a live conversation with these two women for Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Candle Lighting

Bring a candle and turn on your camera to join the community candle lighting ceremony. Followed by guest speaker Rabbi Tamar Malino of Spokane's Temple Beth Shalom.

Remembering as a Community

Let us know who you are remembering/honoring on this Day of Remembrance so that we can acknowledge them during the program. You will have the option of including a name (or names) when you register for the event.

Thanks to community partners: Congregation Ezra Bessaroth, Herzl-Ner Tamid, Temple Beth Shalom Spokane, Stroum Jewish Community Center, JConnect Seattle, Seattle Central College, North Seattle College, North Seattle College Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, South Seattle College, Temple B'Nai Torah, Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, Temple De Hirsch Sinai, Jewish Family Services, Anti-Defamation League Pacific Northwest, Together We Remember Coalition, Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation

America and the Holocaust series: Part Three of Three Copy of Liberated not free Insta

March 30, 2021 | Liberated, But Not Free: Jewish Holocaust Survivors and American Forces in Postwar Germany Presented by Dr. Kierra Crago-Schneider

The United States is often argued to have been a strong friend of the She’erith Hapletah, or surviving remnant of European Jewry living in postwar Displaced Persons camps in Germany. But a closer examination of relations between members of these two parties illustrate a much
more nuanced, and on occasion contentious, series of interactions—ranging from aid and support to outright antisemitism and hostility. These ever-changing relations were often influenced by external world events and political shifts, which affected the status of Jewish Displaced Persons within American-controlled centers.n>

Dr. Kierra Crago-Schneider is the Campus Outreach Program Officer in the National Academic Programs Division of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Her current manuscript, From Barter to Black Market: The Re-Criminalization of the Jews in Germany, focuses on Jewish Displaced Persons’ interactions with their non-Jewish neighbors, international care-givers, and American troops in the American zone of occupied Germany from 1945-1957.
(photo credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park)

Thank you to our community partners on this week's program: Amnesty International Group 4

America and the Holocaust series: Part Two of Three 3 23 LL

March 23, 2021 | Varian Fry's Moment of Glory

View the Video Recording

American journalist Varian Fry’s experiences covering Germany under Hitler’s rule provoked him into action, creating the Emergency Rescue Committee, a private America relief organization, with the goal of rescuing endangered intellectuals in France. Author Sheila Isenberg uses Fry’s own words and the testimony of refugees and compatriots to vividly paint the tense atmosphere of wartime Marseille, where desperate refugees found precarious asylum.

Isenberg describes the inventive measures Fry took to save more than 2,000 people, far more than the 200 intellectuals, scientists, writers, and artists he had originally been assigned to aid. Convening a network of people to assist him, Fry was able to arrange escapes from internment camps, forge documents, and bribe officials to spirit away to safety people threatened by the Nazis. In 1994, his efforts were recognized as he became the first American to be honored by Yad Vashem as "Righteous Among the Nations."

Isenberg is the author of several books including A Hero of Our Own: The Story of Varian Fry (click here for ebook); Muriel’s War: An American Heiress in the Nazi Resistance; and Women Who Love Men Who Kill.

Thank you to our community partners on this week's program: Pacific Lutheran University, UW Communication Department

America and the Holocaust series: Part One of Three

March 16, 2021 | Burying the Holocaust in the Pages of The
New York Times

During World War II, The New York Times published over 1,800 detailed, timely stories about what was happening to Europe's Jews, almost all of which appeared inside the newspaper. Northeastern University Journalism Professor Laurel Leff will discuss why The Times decided to bury the story of the murder of Europe's Jews and how that fateful decision affected contemporary understandings of the cataclysmic event.

Laurel Leff is Professor of Journalism and Associate Director of Jewish Studies at Northeastern University in Boston.

Thank you to community partners: Common Good Foundation, UW Communication

March 9, 2021 | CLE & Public Program | The Crime of Complicity:
Law and the Bystander from the Holocaust to Today

12:00 to 1:00 pm PT | Open to all

1 Washington State Bar CLE Credit | Flyer

Speaker Amos N. Guiora, Professor of Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah

Join the Holocaust Center for Humanity and legal professionals from around Washington for a special legal CLE program and Lunch-and-Learn on Tuesday, March 9 on the Crime of Complicity: Law and the Bystander from the Holocaust to Today with Professor Amos N. Guiora.

In addressing the bystander from the perspective of a crime of omission, one of the most important questions is whether we are examining a legal or ethical dilemma. Professor Amos Guiora proposes that the most appropriate lens is that of a strict legal examination. Others suggest this is an ethical dilemma rather than a legal dilemma. In his lecture, Professor Guiora will address this conflict by presenting the competing tensions between law and ethics.

Professor Guiora has an A.B. in history from Kenyon College, a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, and a Ph.D from Leiden University. He has published extensively both in the United States and Europe on issues related to national security, limits of interrogation, religion and terrorism, the limits of power, multiculturalism, and human rights.

For Legal Professionals:

If you would like to watch the recording for CLE credit please fill out the Self Viewing Attendance form first. The form can be found here.

After watching the recording you will need to self-report your attendance to the WA State Bar Association.

The reading materials for this program can be found here.

The Evaluation for this program can be found here.

Thank you to our event sponsor: HomeStreet Bank

Thanks to our community partners: Washington State Bar Association's Civil Rights Law Section and World Peace Through Law Section, Common Good Foundation, Karr Tuttle Campbell, ACLU Washington, Perkins Coie

March 2, 2021| A Global Journey to Safety with Holocaust
Survivor Henry Haas

Henry Haas’ story of survival echoes that of thousands of Jewish families trying to escape from Nazi-occupied territories. With few options, the Haas family’s arduous journey out of Berlin lasted a year, leading a nomadic existence until finally escaping to Shanghai, China—the only port that would accept them.

A city of 6 million at that time, the Haas family arrived in Shanghai without funds, in a temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit, and encountered an entirely foreign culture and now under Japanese occupation.

Two years after the end of WWII, the family arrived as non-English speaking refugees in San Francisco. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), helped the Haas family come to America, where they finally settled in Tacoma, Washington.

Henry’s wife, Kate, has documented the Haas family story in great detail. Together, Henry and Kate, with the use of photos, maps, and historic family documents, tell the story. Henry and his late mother Gerda, who lived to age 98, told this story for many years to school classes and other groups in the Tacoma area. Henry is part of the Holocaust Center for Humanity’s Speakers Bureau to further share his memoir of antisemitism during the Holocaust.

Thank you to our community partners on this week's program: Temple Beth El (Tacoma)

February 23, 2021 | In My Hands: Rescuer Irene Gut Opdyke
presented by Jeannie Opdyke Smith

>Jeannie Opdyke Smith shares her mother's incredible journey of courage and resilience. A true story of how one Polish Catholic teenager saved over a dozen Jews during the Holocaust. Irene received international recognition for her actions during the Holocaust while working for a high-ranking German official.

Irene's story became a Broadway play in the nationally acclaimed production "Irena's Vow" and her memoir, "In My Hands" is used in classrooms across the country. The Israeli Holocaust Commission named Irene one of the Righteous Among the Nations. She was presented with the Israel Medal of Honor at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.

Jeannie is a recipient of the 2015 Civil Rights award given by the Anti-Defamation League. She resides in Washington state with her husband, Gary, and is the mother of three, a foster parent, a grandmother of five, and surrogate mother to dozens more. Jeannie travels sharing her mother's story with groups across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. The story she shares speaks to the horrors and hate of the Holocaust—but also brings a message of faith, love, and hope, that good can triumph over evil. It proclaims the conviction that one by one, we can say no to hatred, persecution, and prejudice.

February 16, 2021 | Among the Remnants: Holocaust Survivor Josh Gortler

When 3-year-old Joshua Gortler and his family were forced from their hometown in Poland during World War II, they scrambled for safety border over the border, finding refuge at last in Europe's Displaced Persons Camps.

Undocumented and unschooled, Gortler spent his adolescence learning to survive. When his family eventually relocated to the U.S., Gortler found himself starting over as a teenager in a foreign land with only his spunk and sharp wits to rely on.

After earning a Master's degree in social work, Josh moved to Seattle and worked at the Kline Galland Jewish nursing home for almost 50 years. He began telling his story when his grandchildren asked what happened to him during the Holocaust, and he is now an active member of the Holocaust Center for Humanity's Speakers Bureau and Board of Directors.

Josh Gortler's memoir, Among the Remnants, was published in January 2020.

Thank you to our community partners on this week's program: Kline Galland, The Summit at First Hill, Congregation Ezra Bessaroth, Chabad of Downtown Seattle, Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation, the Consulate of the Republic of Poland in Seattle, Polish Home Association

February 9, 2021 | From Genocide to Emergence in Our Homeland:
An Introduction to Coast Salish History by Children of the Setting Sun

With Darrell Hillaire, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Children of the Setting Sun Productions. Follow in the journey of the Coast Salish people from European contact, through their experiences with disease, boarding schools, forced relocation, Christianity, and into today’s times where we begin to see an emergence of culture and language in tribal communities.

Darrell Hillaire is a member of Lummi Nation, great-grandson of Frank Hillaire, who, in 1920, formed the Children of the Setting Sun Song and Dance Group. From Darrell: "Our traditional Lummi song and dance group included several of his grandchildren, and was formed as a response to rapid colonial settlement which included making illegal the traditional Coast Salish cultural practices including song, dance, language, and gatherings such as the potlatch.

"Prior to his passing, Frank Hillaire instructed his grandchildren and future descendants to, 'Keep My Fires Burning.' I have endeavored to follow his instructions throughout my lifetime, from serving as Chairperson and Treasurer of Lummi Indian Business Council for many years (15), to providing a home for our children by building and running the Lummi Youth Academy for 13 years, and more recently, as Executive Director and Co-Founder of Children of the Setting Sun Productions (CSSP). CSSP is a Native owned and operated 501C3, located in Bellingham, Washington within 5 miles of the Lummi Nation. I lead the projects based upon lifetime relationships with many elders and spiritual leaders within the Coast Salish Territory and have grown close to many of the elders through the development of Children of the Setting Sun Production content." Photo by Hailey Hoffman.

Thank you to our partners on this week's program: The Duwamish Tribe, Eighth Generation, National Urban Indian Family Coalition, Potlatch Fund

February 2, 2021 | "Who Was Chief Seattle?" with author David Buerge

Chief Seattle wrote nothing down during his life, yet his words—both real and imagined—are known throughout the world. The result is a man-made up of both historical and fictional aspects, from which conflicting messages can be gleaned.

David Buerge, a historian, teacher, and writer, has been researching the pre- and early history of the City of Seattle since the mid-1970s. He has published fourteen books of history and biography. Buerge’s latest book, published by our partner
Sasquatch Books, is Chief Seattle and the Town that Took His Name," the first biography of Chief Seattle intended for adults.

Thank you to our community partners on this program: Humanities Washington, The Duwamish Tribe,
Eighth Generation, National Urban Indian Family Coalition, Potlatch Foundation, UW American Indian Studies program

January 19, 2021 | Holocaust Survivor Charlotte Wollheim

Born in Germany, Charlotte Wollheim remembers a happy childhood. All of this began to change when the Nazi party came to power in 1933. As Jewish people's lives became increasingly threatened, her parents sent Charlotte and her sister to the Esslingen Jewish Orphanage while they tried to find a way out of Germany. Not even 10 years old, it was a frightening experience. Charlotte's family made it to the United States, but not before her father was arrested multiple times, her grandfather's home was vandalized, and their lives were endangered.

In 1988, Charlotte teamed up with Holocaust survivor Vladka Meed to organize summer trips to Poland for teachers to learn about the Holocaust. These trips became a turning point for hundreds of educators in their understanding and commitment to Holocaust education. Charlotte is a member of the Holocaust Center's Speakers Bureau. Photo by Stefanie Felix.

Thank you to our community partner on this program: Goethe Pop Up Seattle | Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Teachers' Program

January 12, 2021 | The Power of Personal Stories: UW Students Grapple with Stories of Survival and Loss

When students signed up for Professor Rawan Arar's "Genocide and Law" class at the UW, they quickly learned that this class was going to tackle more than text - it was going to challenge their emotions and their human understanding. The situations they would be studying were not just events, but were real people's lives. Working with the Holocaust Center for Humanity, students were assigned to interview survivors of genocide and their descendants. In this special program, students will join with the survivors to provide a candid view of interviewing, being interviewed, and the lessons learned.

Image: Art by UW student Paulina Andrews who took Professor Arar's class in the spring of 2020. Paulina's drawing is inspired by a survivor of the Cambodian genocide.

Thank you to our community sponsor on this program: UW Stroum Center for Jewish Studies

January 5, 2021 | Three Roads - How One Family Embodied The Sweep of 20th Century Jewish History

Seattle author David Laskin draws on his award-winning book The Family to recount the story of the three branches of his mother's Russian-Jewish family: one branch immigrated to the United States and went into business, founding the fabulous Maidenform Bra Company; one branch journeyed to Palestine and made the desert bloom as idealistic Zionist pioneers; the third branch remained behind and perished in the Holocaust. Laskin illustrates the talk with vivid slides not only of his relatives but of the historic events they experienced.

Born in Brooklyn, David Laskin grew up on Long Island hearing stories of struggle and survival told by his Russian-Jewish immigrant grandparents. Settling in Seattle with his wife and three daughters in 1993, Laskin has won wide acclaim for his journalism and his narrative nonfiction books recounting the lives of ordinary people caught up in the great movements of history. Four of his recent books, including The Family, have won the Washington State Books Award. Laskin's first novel, What Sammy Knew, will be published by Penguin in March, 2021.

You can purchase The Family from our community partner and local bookseller, Madison Books!

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December 15, 2020 | The S.S. Officer's Armchair: Uncovering the Hidden Life Of A Nazi | With author Daniel Lee, in conversation with journalist Knute Berger

During a dinner party in Florence a few years ago, Daniel Lee was told a very strange story; a guest recounted how her mother had recently taken an armchair to an upholsterer in Amsterdam. While repairing the chair, the upholsterer found a bundle of swastika-covered documents inside the chair’s cushion. The papers belonged to Dr. Robert Griesinger, a lawyer from Stuttgart, who joined the S.S. and worked at the Reich’s Ministry of Economics and Labour in Occupied Prague during the war. An expert in the history of the Holocaust, Lee was fascinated to know what part Griesinger had played in the Third Reich and how his most precious documents ended up hidden inside a chair, hundreds of miles from Prague and Stuttgart. The SS Officer's Armchair is a detective story and a reconsideration of daily life in the Third Reich.

Daniel Lee is a senior lecturer in modern history at Queen Mary, University of London. A specialist in the history of Jews in France and North Africa during the Second World War, he completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford, and is also the author of Pétain's Jewish Children. As a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker, Lee is a regular broadcaster on radio. He lives in north London.

Knute Berger's journalism has exposed much of the Northwest's local history and has been featured in numerous publications. He is currently the editor at large for Crosscut, and has previously served as editor for Seattle Weekly and Seattle Magazine. He is the host of Mossback’s Northwest on KCTS and PBS which features dozens of short 5 minute videos uncovering facts about our local infrastructure, culture, and history.

Thank you to our community partners on this week's program: Seattle U History Department | UW History Department | Evergreen College Alumni Association

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December 8, 2020 | Hidden in Hungary: The Survival Story of Agi Day

“My mother, my sister, my grandmother were hidden in a convent, dressed as nuns... I was too young to be in the convent, so I was hidden with a Catholic family, a couple [with] no children. They pretended I was a cousin from the countryside." - Agi Day

Agi Day was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia on May 13, 1940. When the Nazis invaded that country in 1941, she and her family fled, walking 196 miles to Budapest, Hungary. Agi’s mother convinced a local priest to hide Agi, age 4, her sister, age 16, herself and her mother in the priest’s apartment. Later, her family was hidden in a convent, but Agi, too young for the convent, was sent to live with two different Catholic families who passed her off as their cousin from the countryside. Agi was not reunited with her family until after liberation, May 1, 1945. With no home to return to, Agi, her mother, and sister, resided in a Displaced Persons Camp in Bad Gastein, Austria. Agi immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1951 and later to the Seattle area. Agi is a member of the Holocaust Center for Humanity's Speakers Bureau.

Thank you to our community partners on this program: Austrian Honorary Consulate | Hungarian American Assoc. of Washington | Honorary Consulate of Austria in Seattle | Alliance Francaise de Seattle

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December 1, 2020 | Building Bridges: Latinx Representation in a Holocaust Museum

With Dr. Michelle Tovar, Associate Director of Education-Latino Initiatives at Holocaust Museum Houston. For many communities, a Holocaust museum represents a rare space to discuss hatred, prejudice, and apathy openly. In the last few years, Holocaust Museum Houston has created an opportunity to amplify diverse voices and narratives that are not commonly recognized. In this presentation, Dr. Michelle Tovar will discuss the significance of Latinx representation in Holocaust museums and how the work she has done has helped shape programming, exhibits, and cross-cultural engagement.

Dr. Michelle Tovar is responsible for building bridges between the Latino community and the Holocaust Museum Houston. Her initiatives include outreach to bilingual/dual language school programs; creating educational workshops and events for teachers, parents, and community leaders; and working with local and national organizations dedicated to serving Latinos. Michelle earned her EdD at the University of Houston in Curriculum and Instruction in K-12 Social Education with an emphasis on Social Justice Education. She was a Smithsonian Latino Museum Studies Fellow and a 2017 and 2019 Fulbright-Hays Scholar.

Thank you to our community partners on this program: Holocaust Museum Houston | Latino Initiatives - Holocaust Museum Houston | CIELO | Seattle Latino Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce

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November 24, 2020 | Resilience and Strength: My Mother's Survival from Auschwitz

Daughter of Dutch survivor of Auschwitz, Ine-Marie van Dam shares her mother's story. Ada van Esso was born in Holland to a Jewish family. After World War II began, Ada’s father planned for the family to escape Holland. He bribed officials who were to assist them in their escape, but the family was betrayed. They were sent to a prison in Berlin, and then deported to Auschwitz in 1943. Ada left Auschwitz in 1945 on a death march. She was liberated at Ravensbrück Concentration Camp and taken to Sweden to recover.

After the war, Ada returned to Holland and married Hans van Dam. Ine-Marie van Dam was born in Holland several years after, and grew up on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao. Ine and her family moved to the Pacific Northwest at age 9.

In 2019, Ine began presenting the story of her mother’s Holocaust survival as a Legacy Speaker with the Holocaust Center for Humanity. Ada lives in Seattle in an assisted living facility. Ine visits her often from her home in Centralia, WA, and still speaks to her mother in Dutch. Photo: Ine-Marie van Dam with her mother Ada.

Thank you to our community partner on this program: The Washington State Jewish Historical Society.

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November 17, 2020 | Technology, the Holocaust, and Human Rights