Please join Jewish Family and Children’s Services for the San Francisco observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day. This year’s program, Out of the Shadows: Rediscovering Artists, Musicians, and Poets, includes a screening of Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh, a documentary about the young Hungarian poet; five workshops, including eyewitness testimony from a Holocaust survivor; and a memorial ceremony featuring the compositions of Gideon Klein, and much more.
We are excited to announce that this year’s event will include a workshop led by 3gSF, a program of the JFCS Holocaust Center. 3gSF is a forum based in the Bay Area for grandchildren of Holocaust survivors (3Gs) to meet, connect and explore our shared history. The mission of 3gSF is to serve as a living link between the history of the Holocaust and today. 3gSF uses their personal connection to the Holocaust to inspire understanding, moral courage and social responsibility. Our goal is building a community of Jewish young adults to connect and engage in our common family histories.
This year’s 3gSF workshop is entitled “Legacy of the Holocaust: One Family, Three Generations”. Holocaust survivor Leon Rajninger will share his story of survival, and will be joined by his son and grandson as together they share how Leon’s memories bear witness and have shaped their family legacy. Make sure to arrive early; this exploration of memory, family relationships, and moving forward is not to be missed!
Panelists:
Leon Rajninger was born in Czernowitz, Romania (now Ukraine) and was ten years old when the Nazis invaded in 1941. He and his family were deported to a ghetto in the Transnistria region, where they lived for three years, surviving enormous hardships that included illness and starvation. They were liberated in 1944, first by Yugoslavian partisans and then by the Soviet Army. After liberation, he and his family walked over 200 miles to return to Czernowitz. They ended up in four different Displaced Persons (DP) camps in Germany before they were able to emigrate to the United States in 1951.
Steven Rajninger is principal at Herman Coliver Locus Architecture, which specializes in designing sacred spaces and low-income housing. He likes to travel and is the father of 16-year old twins.
Jericho Rajninger is a sophomore at Redwood High School. He plays trumpet in both Wind Ensemble and Advanced Jazz and hopes to intern in a research laboratory this summer.
Moderator:
Zoe Goldfarb is a technology professional but dedicates her time outside of work to building Jewish and pro-Israel community in the Bay Area. As the grandchild of Holocaust survivors and refugees, she helped to found 3gSF to explore how identity and legacy are shaped through these shared familial experiences.
