The JFCS Holocaust Center is pleased to co-present The Obligation! We are proud to partner with The Mitzvah Project and PlayGround to present The Obligation, an acclaimed one-person Holocaust drama written and performed by Roger Grunwald. Thur., Oct. 11 – Sun., Nov. 4 Potrero Stage 1695 18th Street, San Francisco Purchase tickets > A child of an Auschwitz Read More

Upcoming Events We are excited to partner with the Jewish Community Library on two events this Fall! Both events are free and open to the public. Europe’s Underground Railroad with Megan Koreman Wed., Oct. 3, 2018 7:00 – 8:30 pm Jewish Community Library 1835 Ellis St., San Francisco Learn More > Hear from Megan Koreman, Read More

Personal Projects The Next Chapter enables high school youth to develop profound connections with Holocaust survivors. By participating in the program, students build a special community of social responsibility and genocide awareness. Through the Next Chapter program, students learn how to: Meet with Holocaust survivors and pass on their stories Study the history of the Holocaust and Read More

Reflections on the University Fellowship Each year at the JFCS Holocaust Center, students from colleges and universities throughout the Bay Area apply for the University Fellowship. As part of this program, two students benefit from a nine-month intensive study of the Holocaust that includes mentoring and teaching high school students, developing curriculum, working with primary Read More

Join 3gSF and the JFCS young professional community for our second annual gathering to enjoy the SF Jewish Film Festival followed by a late night happy hour. Tue., July 24, 2018 6:00 – 10:00 pm The Castro Theatre 429 Castro St., San Francisco Register > Everyone is welcome to come out to watch The Waldheim Waltz Read More

Local San Francisco artist Aimee Golant has just unveiled one of her newest pieces, the Shoah Aliyah placeholder. We are grateful that Aimee has chosen to donate 10% of the proceeds from this piece to the JFCS Holocaust Center. The shape of this Torah placeholder is reminiscent of the yellow Star of David badge which many Jews were Read More

Rywka’s Diary: The Writings of a Jewish Girl from the Lodz Ghetto—first published by the JFCS Holocaust Center—has been awarded this year’s Historical Award by Polityka, Poland’s top newsmagazine. The handwritten diary—miraculously discovered intact amidst the rubble at Auschwitz—is a moving account of the life and dreams of 14-year-old Polish girl Rywka Lipszyc. After more than Read More

The JFCS Holocaust Center is excited to participate in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Fifth International Holocaust Studies Conference! May 30–31, 2018 Guatemala City, Guatemala Register by emailing conferencia2018@mdh.org.gt   This conference brings together international scholars to address the role of the police in the Holocaust, particularly in the organized murder of Jews and Roma. JFCS Holocaust Read More

We are excited to partner with Seattle-based Music of Remembrance (MOR) for an upcoming performance of Voices of Witness. Thu., May 24, 2018 7:30 pm San Francisco Conservatory of Music Purchase Tickets > The program marks MOR’s fourth annual concert in the Bay Area, premiering new compositions by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Christophe Chagnard. Sakamoto’s new work, Snow Read More

Holocaust & Genocide Educators Receive Prestigious Grants Each year, the Preisler Shorenstein Institute celebrates the role of teachers in the field of Holocaust education with the Morris Weiss Award. Morris Weiss, a Holocaust survivor, was a founder of the JFCS Holocaust Center and was dedicated to fighting discrimination and antiseminism. His family established this scholarship Read More

Holocaust survivors are dwindling, but their children are just getting started The JFCS Holocaust Center’s newest education initiative, the Next Generation Speakers Bureau (NGSB), was recently featured in the J. Weekly! The Next Generation Speakers Bureau is a training program for second- and third-generation speakers to share their families’ stories of survival during the Holocaust. Read More

We are excited to partner with film director Jon Kean on upcoming screenings of After Auschwitz! May 4 – 10, 2018 AMC Van Ness 1000 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco Showtimes > After Auschwitz is a “Post-Holocaust” documentary that follows six extraordinary women after their liberation from Nazi concentration camps, capturing what it means to move from Read More

Did you or a direct ancestor lose German citizenship between 1933 and 1945 because of Nazi persecution? If so, you might be eligible to reclaim your German citizenship. We are excited to co-sponsor an upcoming workshop on the Peninsula about reclaiming German citizenship: Fri., May 11, 2018 10:30 am Peninsula Jewish Community Center 800 Foster Read More

We are pleased to co-sponsor an upcoming event at Congregation Sherith Israel. SHOAH: How Was It Humanly Possible?, an exhibit by the American Society for Yad Vashem, will be on display from April 16-19, 2018. This exhibit is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. See below for details. Don’t miss two Read More

Alexis Herr, Associate Director at the JFCS Holocaust Center, will be speaking at Tennessee Technological University on January 31. Dr. Herr and the other members of the panel will speak on the history of the American South and the history of the Holocaust to initiate a larger discussion about the legacy of complicity. Other panelists include: Dr. Betsie Read More

The Diary of Rywka Lipszyc was discovered in the rubble of the crematoria at Auschwitz-Birkenau and was published 70 years later by the JFCS Holocaust Center. In the diary, Jewish teen Rywka Lipszyc chronicles her time in the Lodz Ghetto. The Polish-language version of Rywka’s diary debuted last month, printed in partnership with Austeria Publishing House in collaboration with the POLIN Read More

Plucked from the ashes of Auschwitz and published in 2014 by the JFCS Holocaust Center, Rywka’s Diary: The Writings of a Jewish Girl from the Lodz Ghetto has been an international sensation, sold alongside The Diary of Anne Frank. The tattered school diary written in Polish by 14-year-old Rywka Lipszyc has captivated readers around the world and has Read More

“A Reason to Remember” reception and presentation The JFCS Holocaust Center is pleased to partner with Mercy High School’s Farkas Center for this special event! November 9, 2017 4:00 to 6:00 pm Mercy High School 3250 19th Avenue, San Francisco 94132     All middle and high school students from San Francisco are invited to Read More

The JFCS Holocaust Center is pleased to co-present two films at this year’s festival! Vitch | directed by Sigal Bujman Eddie Vitch, a Polish Jewish entertainer and Hollywood caricaturist, found fame in pre-war Paris as a comedian. But in a dark twist, he spent the war years entertaining Nazi troops throughout Europe. This fascinating documentary follows his daughter as Read More

Through interactive and cutting-edge educational programming the JFCS Holocaust Center bring the lessons of the Holocaust alive to a new generation of students, activists, and young scholars. As a senior at Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, Jessica took part in the JFCS Holocaust Center’s Next Chapter program last year. Not only did she study Read More

Reflections on the 2016-2017 University Fellowship Each year at the JFCS Holocaust Center, students from colleges and universities throughout the Bay Area apply for the Albert Jerassy University Fellowship. As part of this JFCS Holocaust Center program, two students benefit from a nine-month intensive study of the Holocaust that includes mentoring and teaching high school students, Read More

Impressive Visual History Archive Now Available in its Entirety in San Francisco JFCS Holocaust Center, in partnership with the USC Shoah Foundation founded by Steven Spielberg, now gives people full access to view thousands of video testimonies, and is one of just two sites in Northern California to do so along with Stanford University. The Visual Read More

JFCS Partners with the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow on a New Exhibit Featuring Rywka’s Diary When the JFCS Holocaust Center first received an old and tattered school notebook written in Polish and pulled from the ashes of Auschwitz, JFCS Executive Director Dr. Anita Friedman suspected the power the mysterious volume contained as she turned Read More

John Damski: Rescuer Today’s post comes from the JFCS Holocaust Center’s YouthFirst Summer Intern, Waheeb. In addition to helping Holocaust Center staff with administrative projects, Waheeb spent part of his summer researching, writing, and editing this portrait of John Damski, a Polish Catholic who risked his life to save Jews during the Holocaust. Waheeb completed this project using Read More

The JFCS Holocaust Center is pleased to co-present eight films at this year’s film festival! Be sure to use the promo code JFACSHC17 for a special deal. This code will reduce your regular ticket price to $13 (regular price $15).  We look forward to seeing you there! 116 Cameras  in Jews in Shorts: Documentaries | directed by Davina Pardo Read More

Letters for Ralph Earlier this spring, Holocaust survivor Ralph Samuel shared his story with students at Valley View Middle School in Pleasant Hill as part of the JFCS Holocaust Center’s William J. Lowenberg Speakers Bureau. The following comments make up just a small sample of some of the feedback that we received from the students at Read More

Letters for Leon During the first week of May, Holocaust survivor Leon Rajninger shared his story with students at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley as part of the JFCS Holocaust Center’s William J. Lowenberg Speakers Bureau. Regarding Leon’s programs, the organizing teacher wrote: “He is a treasure. My students were especially struck by his Read More

A Legacy of Remembrance and Resilience Recently, the members of 3gSF attended Café by the Bay’s Passover Seder. At this special event, survivors of the Holocaust mingled with the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors (3Gs), sharing food, drink, and life experiences. J Weekly By Rob Gloster Berta Kohut endured more than 1,000 days at Auschwitz. She Read More

Iris Bendahan is one of three winners of this year’s Morris Weiss Award for Outstanding Holocaust Education. Gathering most of the materials herself, she has put together an incredible Holocaust museum at Congregation Beth David in Saratoga. J Weekly By Rob Gloster As a child, Iris Bendahan was confused when her grandmother would speak of relatives Read More

For the first time since 1979, Holocaust Remembrance Day falls on the same date as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. On Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, we honor the memories of the six million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during the Holocaust. This day is observed on the 27th day of the month of Nisan on Read More

Sunday, April 23 5:00-6:15pm JCCSF, 3200 California Street San Francisco The Future of Our Past A Conversation about Memory and Testimony with Stephen D. Smith, USC Shoah Foundation, Followed by a Memorial Ceremony This community event is free and open to the public. 4:00 pm: Reading of the Names—On a continuous cycle prior to the Read More

In the beginning of March, William J. Lowenberg Speakers Bureau member Helen Farkas addressed the students at Mt. Eden High School in Hayward, California. Following the program, we received a large stack of letters from the students at Mt. Eden. Helen really made an impression on this large group of young people; each letter was Read More

On Sunday, March 19, 2017, more than 700 students and teachers from the Bay Area and beyond came together for the 15th annual Day of Learning. This week, The J. – The Jewish News of Northern California, featured the event in their publication. “While most high school students wouldn’t choose to spend their weekends inside a classroom, Piedmont High Read More

At the Threshold of Memory: An Exploration of New Modalities in Holocaust Education Please join our friends at Jewish LearningWorks this weekend for an exploration of new modalities in Holocaust education. The program is free of charge and open to all adult community members, but registration is required. Register > Sunday, February 12 2:00 – 5:30pm University Read More

The JFCS Holocaust Center is pleased to partner with the 4th annual JFI WinterFest to present the Bay Area premiere of The Zookeeper’s Wife! The Zookeeper’s Wife is a new film based on the best-selling nonfiction book starring Jessica Chastain as a working mother who becomes a hero to hundreds in World War II. Attend the premiere and Read More