The Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center (HHREC) of White Plains, NY, has announced their Spring 2021 Memory Keepers Story Hour. These events will be offered on a virtual online platform, and will feature HHREC Holocaust Survivors, Liberators, and GenerationsForward speakers – a second and third generation group that includes children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors.
The event series started in January with Hannah Deutch, a Holocaust Survivor from the HHREC Speakers Bureau, as she shared intimate details about her extraordinary experience as witness to Kristallnacht, her transport on the Kindertransport, internment on the Isle of Man, and her career as a nurse.
The HHREC launched the Memory Keepers Story Hour series in 2020 in support of their mission – to teach the lessons of the Holocaust, to promote the right of all people to be treated with dignity and respect, and to encourage speaking up and acting against all forms of hate, bigotry, and prejudice. The HHREC has been inviting guests to attend these events to hear members of their Speakers Bureau share their family’s uniquely powerful Holocaust experiences and present their testimonies to their origins. The HHREC Memory Keepers Speakers Bureau includes 26 Holocaust Survivors, 3 Honorary Holocaust Liberator Speakers, and 36 GenerationsForward Speakers who tell their stories from a “next generation” perspective, adding new meaning to the survivors’ powerful stories.
“These stories provide a unique opportunity to hear from a very special group of Survivors and next generation family members into the consequences of human hate, and help people reflect, as they realize that choices matter, that one person can make a difference” said HHREC Executive Director Millie Jasper. She added “We are eternally grateful for the contributions from these courageous men and women who share their stories of survival and personal experiences from the Holocaust. Sadly, the number of our Survivors is dwindling, and we are taking great care to recognize what they mean to all of us and preserve their memories and the impact they have had – and will continue to have – for future generations.”
The HHREC Spring 2021 Memory Keepers Story Hour speaker series schedule includes:
March 11 – Debby Ziering, GenerationsForward
March 18 – Barbara Lewis Kaplan, GenerationsForward
April 15 – Kathy Grosz-Zaltas, GenerationsForward
April 22 – Wendy Sandler, GenerationsForward
April 29 – Michelle Gewanter, GenerationsForward
All virtual events begin at 7pm. To register for these events, email Millie Jasper mjasper@hhrecny.org for Zoom log-in information or call the HHREC at 914.696.0738.
