Upcoming Events
Tuesday, October 27 | What It Means To Be "News-Literate"
With John Silva, News Literacy Project. John Silva will provide an overview of essential news literacy skills to stay reliably informed. He will discuss the difficulty in, and importance of recognizing news vs. opinion, how to identify misinformation and evaluate evidence, and how to discern various types and forms of bias. John Silva is the Sr. Director of Education, Training, for the News Literacy Project.
12:00 - 1:00pm. A Zoom link will be provided upon registration.
Thank you to our community partner on this program: The Foundation for International Understanding Through Students
UPCOMING LUNCH-AND-LEARNS - EVERY TUESDAY
12:00 - 1:00pm (Pacific Time) Every Tuesday. Join us for our weekly Lunch-and-Learn series to hear children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, notable speakers on timely issues, and historical experts.
These programs aim to present perspectives and voices that challenge and inspire people to confront bigotry, racism, and indifference, and to consider how their actions make a difference.
Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed in these programs are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of the Holocoaust Center for Humanity and its employees.
Tuesday, November 3 | Hana Kern: The Legacy of Theresienstadt
Daughter of Tom Lenda, a child survivor of Theresienstadt, Hana Kern shares her father's experiences. Tom Lenda was one of the very few Jewish children to survive the camp Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia.
Three years after the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia on March 15, 1939, Tom and his family were ordered to take one suitcase each and report to Exhibition Hall in Prague where over 1,000 Jewish people had been rounded up by Nazi authorities. From there they were taken by train to Terezin (Theresienstadt), a concentration camp 40 miles north of Prague. The family was separated after their arrival at Terezin and, contrary to Nazi propaganda attempting to show that this was a desirable Jewish settlement, they endured severe overcrowding, rats, straw beds, poverty and illness, as well as the deportations of so many to Auschwitz. The Nazis placed Tom into a home with other children. He was ordered to take human ashes from the camp crematorium and dump them into the nearby Ohre River. Tom's mother Irene started work as a nurse in the camp hospital, also her living quarters. Tom's father Paul was assigned to a transportation group and was deported to Auschwitz in fall 1944. Toward the end of the war, when the Soviet Army approached the camp, Paul escaped from Auschwitz with a small group and joined the Czechoslovakian army.
After liberation, Paul returned to Terezin to retrieve his family on May 25, 1945. They continued to live in the Czech Republic, and in the late 1950s Tom joined the Czech army. Tom married Rose Stribrna in 1966 and had a daughter, Hana. They escaped the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1969, fleeing to Munich and then to Australia, where Tom and Rose had a second daughter, Helen. The family settled in Seattle in 1975, and Tom worked as a civil engineer in the Pacific Northwest until his retirement. Tom was part of the Holocaust Center for Humanity's speakers bureau for many years. His daughter Hana Kern now shares his story.
12:00-1:00pm (PT). A Zoom link will be provided upon registration.
Tuesday, November 10 | Finding Refuge in Shanghai: Holocaust Survivor Joe Lewinsohn
Joe Lewinsohn was born in Berlinchen, Germany on May 16, 1937. On Kristallnacht (November 9-10, 1938), the family’s store was vandalized. His father Edwin and 10,000 other Jewish men were arrested and spent weeks in Buchenwald, a German concentration camp. In 1939, scared for their lives, the Lewinsohns fled Germany for Shanghai, their only option. For six years, Joe’s family shared a room with three other refugee families in the decrepit Shanghai ghetto. When the war ended, they went to Chile to live alongside over 10,000 Jews who had spent the wartime years there. In 1949, Joe and his family came to Seattle. Joe graduated from Garfield High School and joined the Army. Upon his discharge, he attended the University of Washington and began a teaching career in the Seattle School District. Since 2017, Joe has been a member of the Holocaust Center for Humanity's Speakers Bureau.
12:00-1:00pm (PT). A Zoom link will be provided upon registration.
Tuesday, November 17 | Technology, the Holocaust, and Human Rights
With Professor Clyde Ford, author of Think Black. THINK BLACK (HarperCollins, Sept. 2019), began as a memoir about Clyde Ford's father, John Stanley Ford, the first Black software engineer in America. But it soon became something much more, after his editor asked him to investigate his father’s relationship with Thomas J. Watson, the founder of IBM.
The elder Ford had just returned from World War II. He was in school on the G.I. Bill, studying to be an accountant, when Watson hired him into a career at IBM. Was this altruism and a desire for social good on Watson’s part, or was it something more?
Clyde Ford went in search of an answer. Ford was shocked, and deeply disturbed, to uncover IBM’s central role in eugenics, the Holocaust, apartheid, and racial profiling through facial recognition. What began as a story about his father, soon enlarged into a cautionary tale about the dark side of high technology and recommendation about what must change.
Clyde W. Ford is an award-winning author of 12 works of fiction and non-fiction. He’s also a psychotherapist, mythologist, and sought-after public speaker. Clyde’s the recipient of the 2006 Zora Neale Hurston-Richard Wright Award in African American Literature. He’s been a featured guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show, National Public Radio, and numerous television and radio programs. Clyde lives in Bellingham, Washington.
12:00-1:00pm (PT). A Zoom link will be provided upon registration.
Tuesday, November 24 | Resilience and Strength: My Mother's Survival from Auschwitz
Daughter of Dutch survivor of Auschwitz, Ine-Marie van Dam shares her mother's story. Ada van Esso was born in Holland to a Jewish family. After World War II began, Ada’s father planned for the family to escape Holland. He bribed officials who were to assist them in their escape, but the family was betrayed. They were sent to a prison in Berlin, and then deported to Auschwitz in 1943. Ada left Auschwitz in 1945 on a death march. She was liberated at Ravensbrück Concentration Camp and taken to Sweden to recover.
After the war, Ada returned to Holland and married Hans van Dam. Ine-Marie van Dam was born in Holland several years after, and grew up on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao. Ine and her family moved to the Pacific Northwest at age 9.
In 2019, Ine began presenting the story of her mother’s Holocaust survival as a Legacy Speaker with the Holocaust Center for Humanity, utilizing video testimony, photos, maps, and other primary source documents. Ada lives in Seattle in an assisted living facility. Ine visits her often from her home in Centralia, WA, and still speaks to her mother in Dutch. Photo: Ine-Marie van Dam with her mother Ada.
12:00-1:00pm (PT). Registration coming soon.
Tuesday, December 1 | Building Bridges: Latinx Representation in a Holocaust Museum
With Dr. Michelle Tovar, Associate Director of Education-Latino Initiatives at Holocaust Museum Houston. For many communities, a Holocaust museum represents a rare space to discuss hatred, prejudice, and apathy openly. In the last few years, Holocaust Museum Houston has created an opportunity to amplify diverse voices and narratives that are not commonly recognized. In this presentation, Dr. Michelle Tovar will discuss the significance of Latinx representation in Holocaust museums and how the work she has done has helped shape programming, exhibits, and cross-cultural engagement.
Dr. Michelle Tovar is responsible for building bridges between the Latino community and the Holocaust Museum Houston. Her initiatives include outreach to bilingual/dual language school programs; creating educational workshops and events for teachers, parents, and community leaders; and working with local and national organizations dedicated to serving Latinos. Michelle earned her EdD at the University of Houston in Curriculum and Instruction in K-12 Social Education with an emphasis on Social Justice Education. She was a Smithsonian Latino Museum Studies Fellow and a 2017 and 2019 Fulbright-Hays Scholar.
12:00-1:00pm (PT). Registration coming soon.
Thank you to our community partners on this program:
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Tuesday, December 15 | The S.S. Officer's Armchair: Uncovering the Hidden Life Of A Nazi with author Daniel Lee, in conversation with Journalist Knute Berger
During a dinner party in Florence a few years ago, Daniel Lee was told a very strange story; a guest recounted how her mother had recently taken an armchair to an upholsterer in Amsterdam. While repairing the chair, the upholsterer found a bundle of swastika-covered documents inside the chair’s cushion. The papers belonged to Dr. Robert Griesinger, a lawyer from Stuttgart, who joined the S.S. and worked at the Reich’s Ministry of Economics and Labour in Occupied Prague during the war. Unlike the other infamous names in the Nazi Party, Griesinger was a mid-level, everyday S.S. officer. An expert in the history of the Holocaust, Lee was fascinated to know what part Griesinger had played in the Third Reich and how his most precious documents ended up hidden inside a chair, hundreds of miles from Prague and Stuttgart. The SS Officer's Armchair is a detective story and a reconsideration of daily life in the Third Reich.
Daniel Lee is a senior lecturer in modern history at Queen Mary, University of London. A specialist in the history of Jews in France and North Africa during the Second World War, he completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford, and is also the author of Pétain's Jewish Children. As a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker, Lee is a regular broadcaster on radio. He lives in north London.
Knute Berger's journalism has exposed much of the Northwest's local history and has been featured in numerous publications. He is currently the editor at large for Crosscut, and has previously served as editor for Seattle Weekly and Seattle Magazine. He is the host of Mossback’s Northwest on KCTS and PBS which features dozens of short 5 minute videos uncovering facts about our local infrastructure, culture, and history.
When you purchase a copy of The SS Officer's Armchair through AmazonSmile, a percentage of your purchase will be donated to the Holocaust Center for Humanity.
October 25, 2020 | National Nordic Museum
The Holocaust Center for Humanity is proud to be a Partner Organization of the annual Raoul Wallenberg event. Join the Nordic Museum for the Annual Raoul Wallenberg Dinner, honoring the memory of the Swedish diplomat who intervened to save thousands of Jews from deportation to Nazi concentration camps.
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish architect and businessman, who served as Sweden's special envoy in Nazi-occupied Budapest from July to December, 1944. During that time, Wallenberg issued protective passports to Jewish persons and sheltered Jews in Swedish-territory buildings, saving tens of thousands of people from deportation to concentration camps. Wallenberg was detained by the Soviet Army in 1944, and reportedly died in a communist prison in 1947. Today, he is celebrated by countries worldwide for his courageous humanitarian efforts.
Our speaker this year is Swedish activist Siavosh Derakhti, founder of Young People Against Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia. Derakhti was the recipient of the Raoul Wallenberg Prize in 2013 in recognition of his activism and in 2015 he received the Human Rights First Award, bestowed by the group of the same name.
Holocaust Survivors can receive a free ticket to this virtual program! Please contact Julia Thompson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for details.
Next Up: A Train Near Magdeburg: A Teacher's Journey into the Holocaust | Oct. 28 | 4:00pm (PT)
Teachers can earn 1 clock hour on selected discussions.
Join engaging and highly interactive discussions of select popular Holocaust texts. Open to teachers, students, parents and anyone else. Come prepared with questions and/or ideas you'd like to discuss, or just sit in and join the discussion.
A Train Near Magdeburg: A Teacher's Journey Into the Holocaust by Matthew Rozell
Wednesday, October 28 | 4:00-5:00pm (Pacific Time)
Drawing on never-before published eye-witness accounts, survivor testimony and memoirs, wartime reports and letters, Matthew Rozell takes us on his journey to uncover the stories behind the incredible 1945 liberation photographs taken by the soldiers who were there. He weaves together a chronology of the Holocaust as it unfolds across Europe and goes to the authentic sites of the Holocaust to retrace the steps of the survivors and the American soldiers who freed them. His mission culminates in joyful reunions on three continents, seven decades later. Rozell offers his unique perspective on the lessons of the Holocaust for future generations, and the impact that one person, a teacher, can make.
This book tells the true story of an iconic photograph taken at the liberation of a death train deep in the heart of Nazi Germany―brought to life by the history teacher who discovered it. This photo helped reunite hundreds of Holocaust survivors with the actual American soldiers who saved them.
Discussion led by Kate Boris-Brown. Kate Boris-Brown has been a supporter and volunteer at the Holocaust Center since 2015, assisting in the library and traveling with the Center to Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, and Israel. Books are her passion, especially books on the Holocaust, the refugee experience and Russian history. Her preferred vacation activity is scouting European bookstores for Holocaust and history publications. She has a B.A. in Literature, Graduate studies in Russian Language and post-retirement, earned UW Professional and Continuing Education Certificates in three writing programs: Nonfiction Writing, Literary Fiction I and II.
A Zoom link will be provided upon registration. Questions? Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Coming Up:
Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli
Thursday, November 12 | 4:00-5:00pm (Pacific Time)
Teachers: Earn 1 Clock Hour.
He's a boy called Jew. Gypsy. Stopthief. Filthy son of Abraham.
He's a boy who lives in the streets of Warsaw. He's a boy who steals food for himself, and the other orphans. He's a boy who believes in bread, and mothers, and angels.
He's a boy who wants to be a Nazi, with tall, shiny jackboots of his own-until the day that suddenly makes him change his mind.
And when the trains come to empty the Jews from the ghetto of the damned, he's a boy who realizes it's safest of all to be nobody.
Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli takes us to one of the most devastating settings imaginable—Nazi-occupied Warsaw during World War II—and tells a tale of heartbreak, hope, and survival through the bright eyes of a young Holocaust orphan.
Discussion led by Paul Regelbrugge will include how to use this book with students (for grades 7 and up), and related educational resources.
Paul Regelbrugge is the Professional Development and Curriculum Coordinator for the Holocaust Center for Humanity. Previously, following a career as an attorney in his native Detroit and Chicago, Paul taught for 14 years in Chicago, Buffalo, Spokane and, most recently, Kent. He is also the author of The Yellow Star House: The Remarkable Story of One Boy's Survival in a Protected House in Hungary (2019).
A Zoom link will be provided upon registration. Questions? Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Exploring the Misinformation Landscape
Teacher Workshop | Thursday, October 29, 2020 | 3:30-4:30pm (Pacific Time) | Virtual | Earn 1 Clock Hour
Learn how to teach students to stop using the phrase “fake news” and to identify the many types of misleading, inaccurate, and false information that they encounter every day. We use examples of misinformation to engage students in news literacy and civic learning, and we introduce digital verification skills and tools for debunking manipulated and false images. We also explain the standards of quality journalism, such as fairness, verification, balance and context.
Presented by John Silva, NBCT, Senior Director of Education and Training at the News Literacy Project.
Funding for this program was made possible, in part, due to a grant from the Tillie and Alfred Shemanski Testamentary Trust.
Thursday, November 12, 2020 | 6:00-7:15pm (PT) | Zoom (register to receive the link)
Are you looking to deepen your engagement with the Holocaust Center for Humanity? The Holocaust Center is proud to announce our second year of Ambassadors for Change. Join us for a recruitment event on November 12, 2020 to learn more and hear from our current Ambassador cohort.
Ambassadors for Change is a yearlong cohort organized to raise awareness for the Holocaust Center, inspire change in our community, and help you build your personal and professional networks through mission-based social and educational opportunities. Open to individuals aged 25-40 in Washington State from ALL backgrounds.
Have questions? Please email us: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Teacher Workshop | Thursday, December 3, 2020 | 3:30pm-4:30pm (PT) on Zoom | 1 Clock Hour. Free.
Participants will receive teaching resources and best practices for teaching the Holocaust both online and in the classroom, as well as lessons and resources regarding the theme of resistance. The Defiant Requiem is the story of a group of Jewish prisoners in the Terezin Concentration Camp who used music to defy their oppressors, find courage, and sustain hope. Against the odds, the prisoners learned to sing Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem in the original Latin.
Presented by Branda Anderson and Paul Regelbrugge. More about The Defiant Requiem.
Branda Anderson is a graduate of Southern Illinois University with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a graduate of the University of Washington with a Masters in Teaching. In 2013, she completed a Masters in Holocaust and Genocide Studies from Gratz College. Branda has been a World History/Social Studies teacher at Kamiak High School in Mukilteo, Washington for seventeen years, and has participated in and presented at multiple Holocaust Center for Humanity (Seattle) teacher trainings. In 2011, she participated in the Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Teachers Program traveling to Washington DC, Israel, Germany and Poland. Branda is an Alfred Lerner Fellow, a Powell Fellow, a Defiant Requiem Teacher Ambassador, and USHMM Teacher Fellow and Mentor.
Paul Regelbrugge is the Holocaust Center for Humanity's Professional Development and Curriculum Coordinator. He is a former attorney, former teacher in Chicago, Buffalo, Spokane and Kent, a United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Teacher Fellow, a Powell Teacher Fellow and Jewish Foundation for the Righteous Alfred Lerner Teaching Fellow, and author of The Yellow Star House.