Thank you to our new sponsor!

Thank you Mills Meyers Swartling Attorneys for sponsoring the Holocaust Center's community program and teacher training on January 17th and 18th at the Museum of Flight!

International Holocaust Remembrance Day Program*
The Bombing of Auschwitz
January 17, 2013  |  6:30pm - 8:30pm  |  Museum of Flight, Seattle
Free and open to the public.  RSVP

Why didn't the Allies bomb Auschwitz? Robert Herschkowitz, historian, Boeing engineer, retired Naval Commander, and Holocaust survivor, will discuss one of the most debated questions of World War II.  Sponsored by the Holocaust Center and the Museum of Flight. RSVP

*In 2005, the United Nations designated January 27th - the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945 - as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In the spring the world also commemorates the Holocaust with Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom Hashoah in Hebrew. This year Holocaust Remembrance Day falls on April 8, 2013.

 

Creating Change: Teaching about the Holocaust & Genocide
January 18, 2013  |  8:00am - 4:00pm  |  Museum of Flight, Seattle

Sessions include: an overview of the Holocaust;  analyzing photographs: perpetrators, bystanders, victims, and upstanders;  rescue and resistance; an introduction to genocide.  Participants will also have the opportunity to take a docent-led tour of the Museum of Flight's Personal Courage wing (which highlights World War II).   $20 Registration fee - lunch and clock hours included. Presented in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, in partnership with the Museum of Flight.  

Register Now  |  Flyer

What is your connection to the Holocaust?

First of all, we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who either attend or helped with the luncheon yesterday!  It was a great success!

At our luncheon, we asked people to write down how they were connected to the Holocaust.  Below are just a few of the many diverse responses we received:

• My husband lost his entire family in the Holocaust.  I now help him tell the history of who and how this happened -- to educate the generations.
• I studied the Holocaust with my students.  I am drawn, with empathy and compassion, to that time.
• I have several friends whose families were living during the Holocaust.  My friend, George, left Czech. in 1939 and is here today.
• I get to work firsthand with the Speakers Bureau at the Holocaust
• I can think of 6 x 10^6 reasons...
• My Aunt Rivka Almeleh Avzavadel, sister of my father, "Pinky" Pirikas Almeleh, was taken by the Nazis from "Rhodos" -- the Island of Rhodes in the Greek Isles, in 1944.  I never knew my Aunt.
• Many were left behind.  I am grateful to be alive and to tell the story of my brave ancestors.  Both of my parents escaped, searately, and came to the US in 1938 from Germany.
• My grandmother's family, from Poland, were killed, as were my grandfather's parents. My husband also lost many family members.
• I am a survivor
• My mother, uncle, and grandmother were members of la Resistance in Paris and rescuers..
• I was a student of the Holocaust, and today I teach my students about this history.
• My father was in the Norwegian Resistance movement working to help Jews across to Sweden when the Nazis took over his country.
• I am a Jew and a human being
• I donated through my youth Mitzfah fund because I felt that they don't teach this in school.
• Those who survived and those who didn't are in my heart
• I teach my MS students about genocide and the Holocaust. Then my students teach the world!
• I lead tours to Rwanda
• Both my parents survived
• I am on the Board of the Center, and work for equality in my workplace for people of all races, gender, religion, and other areas of diversity.
• I was touched by a speaker!

Donor Spotlight

Thank you Commerce Bank of Washington for being a sponsor for the Voices for Humanity Luncheon 2012.

Save the Date: October 15, 2012 at the Westin Seattle – Voices for Humanity Luncheon

New Books!

Thanks to the generosity of Bob Herschkowitz, we have recently added these wonderful books to our library. Thank you Bob!

Warsaw Ghetto: Het Getto van Warschua

Warsaw Ghetto presents a collection of images from the Warsaw Ghetto. Introduction and descriptions are in both English and German.

[Warsaw Ghetto: Het Getto can Warschua. Parma Press, 2011.]

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The Auschwitz Violin by Maria Àngels Anglada

A violinist in 1991 tells the origin of her violin: a Holocaust victim in Auschwitz is forced to make a violin in a wager for his life.

[Àngels Anglada, Maria. The Auschwitz Violin. London: Corsair, 2010.]

The Holocaust by Bullets by Father Patrick Desbois

Father Desbois’ account of his research and journey to uncover the execution sites of 1.5 million Jews in the Ukraine during the Holocaust.

[Desbois, Father Patrick. The Holocaust by Bullets: A Priest’s Journey to Uncover the Truth Behind the Murder of 1.5 Million Jews. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.]

Masters of Death by Richard Rhodes

Rhodes uncovers the immensity of the Einsatzgruppen’s role in the deaths of 1.5 million people during World War II. He underlines the mental conditioning of the men involved and the surreptitious nature of the program itself.

[Rhodes, Richard. Masters of Death. New York: Vintage, 2002.]

Scum of the Earth by Arthur Koestler

Koestler presents his account of his survival during the Second World War and his own response to the French loss of dedication to resistance during the summer of 1940.

[Koestler, Arthur. Scum of the Earth. London: Eland, 1941.]

The Twentieth Train by Marion Schreiber

Schreiber recounts the ambush of a train destined for Auschwitz by Youra Livchitz, Jean Franklemen, and Robert Maistriau. The three men rescued over 225 Jews from the train, but were in turn put in concentration camps themselves.

[Schreiber, Marion. The Twentieth Train. New York: Grove Press, 2000.]

Treblinka by Jean-Francois Steiner

Steiner brings together his own family’s history, other survivor stories, and his own research to provide this holistic account of the Treblinka death camp.

[Steiner, Jean-Francois. Treblinka. New York: MJF Books, 1966.]

The Alchemy of Loss by Abigail Carter

Carter recalls her attempt to recover from loss of her husband in the September 11^th attach and its impact upon her family.

[Carter, Abigail. The Alchemy of Loss. Toronto: M&S, 2008.]

Winston’s War: Churchill 1940-1945 by Max Hastings

Hastings presents a biographical account of Winston Churchill during the Second World War, emphasizing his dichotomous personality and controversial policies.

[Hastings, Max. Winston’s War: Churchill 1940-1945. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.]

Voices for Humanity 2011 - Thank you!

VOICES FOR HUMANITY LUNCHEON 2011

Together we raised $264,500 in support of Holocaust education!

Thank you to all 575 of you who attended the Voices for Humanity Luncheon on November 8, 2011 at the Westin in Seattle. And, thank you to the many others who contributed to this annual fundraiser.

Your donation supports our mission of teaching and learning for humanity.

As a small non-profit, each of our donors is important to us. Donors like you who believe in the mission of our Center and the critical importance of Holocaust, tolerance and genocide education, have sustained our efforts and allowed us to continue our outreach to students, teachers and community members.

See photos of the event!

Thank you to our sponsors!

Thank to our many sponsors for supporting Holocaust education!

Thank you Red Lion Hotels!

A giant thank you to Red Lion Hotels for their incredible support of Holocaust and genocide education and teacher training in the state of Washington!

Special thanks to:
Todd Thoreson, Regional Vice President of Hotel Operations, Red Lion Hotels Corporation
Jan Simon Aridj, President and CEO, Washington State Hotel & Lodging Association
Ian Napier, General Manager, Red Lion Hotels, Kennewick and Richland

Madonna Booed in Bucharest for Defending Gypsies

August 27, 2009
By ALINA WOLFE MURRAY, Associated Press Writer Alina Wolfe Murray, Associated Press Writer

BUCHAREST, Romania – At first, fans politely applauded the Roma performers sharing a stage with Madonna. Then the pop star condemned widespread discrimination against Roma, or Gypsies — and the cheers gave way to jeers.

The sharp mood change that swept the crowd of 60,000, who had packed a park for Wednesday night's concert, underscores how prejudice against Gypsies remains deeply entrenched across Eastern Europe.

Despite long-standing efforts to stamp out rampant bias, read more...

Bellevue Sunrise Rotary

In 2006, the Bellevue Sunrise Rotary Club underwrote a Holocaust Teaching Trunk. Since that time, their trunk, a middle school trunk, has been used by over 2000 students!

Today, I had the opporutunity to tell the Bellevue Sunrise Rotarians about the difference their contribution has made.

Thank you Bellevue Sunrise Rotary for your support!

-Ilana Cone Kennedy, Director of Education

Picture: Bellevue Sunrise Rotarians (and Ilana Cone Kennedy, Director of Education) with a Holocaust Teaching Trunk.