Each year at the JFCS Holocaust Center, students from colleges and universities throughout the Bay Area apply for the Pell and Manovill University Fellowships.  University Fellows mentor and teach high school students, conduct research, develop curriculum, work with primary source materials in the Tauber Holocaust Library and Archives, and gain first-hand experience learning from Holocaust 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

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

Ben’s Personal Project Ben S. is a 10th grader at The Urban School of San Francisco and a participant in the JFCS Holocaust Center’s Next Chapter program this year. As part of the program, students are matched with local Holocaust survivors, who they meet with and interview several times over the course of a semester. Read More

Ethan S. is a 10th grader at Woodside Priory and a participant in the JFCS Holocaust Center’s Next Chapter program this year. As part of the program, students are matched with local Holocaust survivors, who they meet with and interview several times over the course of a semester. Through the Next Chapter program, students learn Read More

Students Leet M. and Ella R. were matched with Holocaust survivor Stella M. during this year’s Next Chapter program. As part of the Next Chapter, students write biographies of their survivors, then create personal projects to reflect on the experience of meeting and getting to know a Holocaust survivor. For her personal project, Ella created Read More

Students Eloise M. and Ari N. were matched with Holocaust survivor Sonia K. during this year’s Next Chapter program. As part of the Next Chapter, students write biographies of their survivors, then create personal projects to reflect on the experience of meeting and getting to know a Holocaust survivor. For her personal project, Eloise created Read More

Louis’s Story Jonah K. 11th grader at Oakland Technical High School Louis D. was born in Amersfoort, The Netherlands, in 1929. He grew up in the nearby town of Arnhem. His parents operated an electrical store where they sold various appliances. Louis had one older sister. His parents were not particularly religious, but they believed Read More

Lori’s Story Idan S. 10th grader at Jewish Community High School of the Bay Lori S. was born in 1925 in Vienna Austria. Her father and mother were not very wealthy but also not poor. She grew up with a brother who was four years older, and two cousins. Her family owned a shop, with Read More

Emma T. is an 11th grader at International High School and a participant in the JFCS Holocaust Center’s Next Chapter program this year. As part of the program, students are matched with local Holocaust survivors, who they meet with and interview several times over the course of a semester. Through the Next Chapter program, students Read More

Students Sarah F. and William B. were matched with Holocaust survivor Leon R. during this year’s Next Chapter program. As part of the Next Chapter, students write biographies of their survivors, then create personal projects to reflect on the experience of meeting and getting to know a Holocaust survivor. For his personal project, William wrote “Darkness Read More

Students Nick F., Marionne S., and Byron Z. were matched with Holocaust survivor Lenci F. during this year’s Next Chapter program. As part of the Next Chapter, students write biographies of their survivors, then create personal projects to reflect on the experience of meeting and getting to know a Holocaust survivor. For his personal project, Read More

Herb’s Story Students Caroline R. and Simone R. were matched with Holocaust survivor Herb H. during this year’s Next Chapter program. As part of the Next Chapter, students write biographies of their survivors, then create personal projects to reflect on the experience of meeting and getting to know a Holocaust survivor. For her personal project, Read More

Gerda’s Story Dana W. 12th grader at Menlo-Atherton High School Gerda’s story begins in the German city of Breslau. She began her education at a well-regarded private Catholic school. The kids were friendly and she excelled in her classes. She could not understand why in 1934 the school asked her and other Jews to leave, Read More

AnneMarie’s Story Students Nicolette K. and Frederick K. were matched with Holocaust survivor AnneMarie Y. during this year’s Next Chapter program. Nicolette and AnneMarie participated in the annual Yom HaShoah program at Jewish Community High School of the Bay. Nicolette first shared about some of AnneMarie’s experiences during the Holocaust with the students at her Read More

Simone’s Personal Project Simone R. is a 10th grade student at The College Preparatory School and a participant in the JFCS Holocaust Center’s Next Chapter program this year. As part of the program, students are matched with local Holocaust survivors, who they meet with and interview several times over the course of a semester. Through the Next Read More

Byron’s Personal Project Byron Z. is a 10th grade student at Palo Alto High School and a student in the JFCS Holocaust Center’s Next Chapter program. As part of the program, students are matched with local Holocaust survivors, who they meet with and interview several times over the course of a semester. Through the Next Read More

The JFCS Holocaust Center’s Next Chapter program was recently featured in The Mercury News! Read the article > 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 and are awarded 40 hours of community service. Read More

Lydia is a former student of the JFCS Holocaust Center and participated in both of our programs for high school students, The Next Chapter and the Manovill Holocaust History Fellowship. Armed with knowledge and skills that she learned while studying with the JFCS Holocaust Center, she has spent the last year developing her own curriculum to be Read More

Survival by Luck by Naama W. Saint Mary’s College High School   The first thing Herb said he could remember was the small, idyllic town that his family lived in: a nice place on the outskirts of Prague. He was born into a Jewish family, a small one, with only one other child beside him. Read More

The Story of AnneMarie Y. by Joshua C. Stuart Hall High School   AnneMarie Y. was born in Chemnitz, Germany, She lived in a house with her father and mother. On November 9, 1938, when AnneMarie was a young child, she heard the violence of Kristallnacht[1] from inside her house. When she asked her parents Read More

Ed’s Story by Madison M. Monte Vista High School   Ed was born in the year 1930, in Dobromil, Poland[1]. Self described as a troublemaker, Ed’s first memory was at only three years old, when he had managed to swallow a coin. He remembers everyone in a frenzy around him, worried about his safety. Of Read More

The Story of Bill K. by Jacob L. Lowell High School   Shlomo Katz, now named Wilfred (Bill) K., was born in the year 1928 in Pultusk, Poland[1]. He was the 3rd oldest of 7 children. Born and raised as a Jew, Shlomo’s life was enjoyable, school in the fall, winter and spring, and a break Read More

Leon’s Story By Damian F. Stuart Hall High School   For many Jews in Czernowitz[1], the period preceding World War II was the golden age for Jewish civil rights. Leon R. was born during this period and enjoyed the benefits of being recognized as a citizen of Romania. As a young boy, Leon had a close friend Read More

Esther to Stella by Dominique M. St. Ignatius College Preparatory   “Esther!” her mom called out down their street. Esther’s long, thick black hair waved in the wind as she glided on her gold scooter towards her home for supper. “Bye Lulu! See you tomorrow at the movies!” she exclaimed before zooming away. Lulu is Read More

Luba’s Story by Joy C. Kehillah Jewish High School & Leah C. Menlo-Atherton High School   Luba was born in Szydlowiec, Poland into a family of 8 originally as Leba. She remembers it was a Friday afternoon when she was about 13 years old and was watching her younger sister when she heard planes fly Read More

Helen’s Story by Leah K. San Mateo High School   Helen F. was born in 1920, in Satu-Mare, Romania, as the middle child to 9 brothers and sisters. She grew up in a middle-class family that owned a large property; she learned to cook and clean, spent time with her Jewish and non-Jewish friends, and was Read More

Livia’s Story by Bethie L. Aragon High School Livia was born in 1925 in a small town outside of Satu Mare Romania called Micula. The town only consisted of a few hundred people. Livia was one of ten children. In 1944, at the age of eighteen Livia went to visit her older sister in Budapest. Read More

Helen’s Story by Ella G. Lick-Wilmerding High School   Helen F. was born in 1920 in the county of Satu-Mare, Romania.[1] Helen grew up in a large town of 100,000 where she attended a school that taught up to the 7th grade. If you wanted to earn a higher education then you would have to Read More

Ellen’s Story by Chace C. Nueva School   On May 10th, 1940, a seven-year-old Ellen saw the war for the first time. Snuggled in her mother’s arms, she watched as German planes dropped bombs on the nearby Amsterdam airport. The oppressive Nazi regime slowly started to affect Ellen and her family over the next few Read More

Leon R. – “The Will to Live” by Talia M. San Francisco Waldorf High School Leon R., now 84 years old, was born in Czernowitz, Romania in 1931. There in Romania Leon grew up with his mother and father in a big condominium with many other families. He had a best friend named Marcello, and Read More

Gloria L.: A Survivor’s Story by Seth E. Stuart Hall High School Gloria L. was born in what she remembers as ‘the enlargement of Czechoslovakia’ on January 20, 1930, in the village of Nagybereg, which was located in the province of Bereg. Nagybereg had a population of approximately 8,000 to 10,000 people, and was only a few Read More

  The Life of Rivka S. by Rebecca C. Lick-Wilmerding High School Through The Next Chapter, I had the honor of getting to know Rivka Spiegel, a Holocaust survivor whose story is tragic, yet both enlightening and inspiring. Rivka grew up in Ozorkow, Poland, with her two older sisters, Golda and Rachel, and one older Read More