THE OBLIGATION OF MEMORY

Holocaust Tapestry Through Art 2024 Yom HaShoah Program Series - Part 2 - April 21, 2024 Holocaust Tapestry Through Art serves as a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit and a tribute to those whose lives were forever altered by the atrocities of the Holocaust. By honoring the past through artistic expression, participants are inspired to confront injustice, promote understanding, and work towards a more compassionate and inclusive world for future generations. Presenters: Holocaust Survivor Jacqueline Simcha Gmach HOLOCAUST ART TAPESTRY Jacqueline is a Tunisian-born, Sorbonne-trained American educator. Her work focuses on Jewish culture, Sephardic history, and preserving the artistic achievements of people victimized by the Holocaust. Holocaust/Jewish Culture Poet - Lindsay Soberano-Wilson HOLOCAUST EDUCATION: THE POWER OF NAMES AND TESTIMONY Lindsay Soberano-Wilson explores her relationship to her culture, Jewish tradition, the Holocaust, and her Canadian homeland. while reflecting on how she internalizes terrorism and antisemitism. Holocaust Art Storyteller - Miriam Friedman Morris MY NAME IS HILDEGARD TAUSSIG AND I AM A JEW! "In the face of the SS man, she was able to save the life of her father in Theresienstadt and Auschwitz without fear. She was a real hero." (David Friedman) Plus, Video Musical Guests Produced by Jeffery Giesener - Founder of Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance/10.7 and THE ONE REVOLUTION - Stop Jewish Hate Communities

STANDING IN YOUR OWN LIGHT - 2024 Yom HaShoah Program 3 Jewish Culture and Holocaust/10.7 Remembrance Community JCHRnow.circle.so Whether seeking a deeper connection with oneself and others, "Standing in Your Own Light" offers valuable reflections to support one's journey towards higher levels of one's being. Author Presenters: Abe Gurko - "Won't Be Silent" Heather Dune Macadam - "The Film 999" Janet Horvath - "The Cello Still Sings" Plus Yom HaShoah and 10.7 Memorial Video and Video Musical Guests Please feel free to share this program widely with your friends and family. Curated and Produced by Jeffery Giesener - Founder Recorded April 28, 2024

Keep The Light Shining JCHRnow.circle.so 2024 Yom HaShoah 3-Part Program Series - Part 1 Inspirational stories of resilience and triumph serve as beacons of hope, offering participants a sense of connection and solidarity in their journey toward healing and renewal. Guest Presenters share their wisdom and insights, offering perspectives on resilience, purpose, and the transformative power of hope. With Presenters... Ana Fodorova - In The Blood Michael Ruskin - The Vow Louise Fein - Daughter Of The Reich and The Hidden Child and Video Musical Guests. Curated and Produced by Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the JCHRnow.circle.so International Community Recorded April 7, 2024

Soundscapes of Serenity: Music for Inner Healing Trauma Support Havurah - JCHR107 & JCHRnow.circle.so with music from Zola Shuman, Judith Tellerman, Jacqueline, and Yael Gmach and repeat performance by Peter Yarrow co-producer with Jaqueline Shima Gmach of We Are The Tree Of Life - Carry On. Jews have cherished music for centuries. For some, music acts as an escape from pain or can evoke deep feelings of joy. Others see music as a necessity, something that helps them understand difficult feelings and allows them the ability to express themselves. Regardless of how music makes us feel, it is something that we are all affected by. As a result, music can be used as a therapeutic technique to help us process challenging, traumatic, or even joyful experiences. Feb 7, 2024 Moderator: Jeffery Giesener - Founder JCHRnow.com and JCHR107 Communities

JCHRnow.com International Film Festival - Peter Yarrow highlights... "We Are The Tree Of Life- CARRY ON" with Jacqueline Shema Gmach - Producer Recorded Wednesday, Jan 10th. Peter Yarrow highlights...“We are the Tree of Life - Carry On,” with Producer Jacqueline Shema Gmach and Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary will present a feature-length film focusing on Holocaust education utilizing the arts to promote a message of hope and survival. Literature, music, dance, poetry, and drawings created by prisoners in the concentration camps and ghettos during World War II, show that beauty can survive, even when experiencing unspeakable horrors. Producer Jacqueline Shema Gamach and friends will join the Film Event including Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary who will sing for us. Jackie adds, “The Film demonstrates that all of us can overcome and that the human spirit is irrepressible.” Some of the prisoners of the camps and ghettos found their humanity and self-worth in the arts, dancing secretly at night, drawing or painting pictures, and playing music, Gmach told the Chronicle. “Their talents, their works, are today a message of survival, hope and resiliency,” she said. In small and quiet moments, prisoners of the Third Reich clung to the joy of “creating” so that their spirits could stay alive, she said. In her mission to combat hate and spread hope and love through the arts, Gmach stresses the importance of educating young people about crimes against humanity. As founder and creative director of We are the Tree of Life - Carry On, she urges educators to promote “acceptance” rather than just “tolerance.” Program Curated and Produced by Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance International Community. The Community as of Jan 2024 has over 20,000 annual users. Program Recorded: Jan 10, 2024

Food, Hope & Resilience with author June Hersh & Obligation Of Memory Series for JCHRnow.com - 12.17.2023 June's book includes a vital collection of survivor stories uplifts and inspires alongside recipes that nourish your soul. Read about daring partisans who fought in the woods, hidden children who sought comfort from strangers, and those who endured unimaginable internment. For Holocaust survivors, food was a way to connect their lives before the war with the homes they created after. Their kitchens were filled with the aromas of familiar foods like chicken soup and brisket while unfamiliar delights they adopted, like arroz con pollo and gnocchi, became part of their repertoire. These are the recipes they share with you. Culinary icons such as Michael Solomonov, Jonathan Waxman, Ina Garten, and more contribute their recipes as a tribute to the remarkable survivor community. Author June Hersh gives readers a taste of history and a life-affirming message that honors the legacy of Holocaust survivors. A portion of the proceeds from sales of this book will benefit organizations committed to Holocaust education. Part 2: A collaborative Obligations of Memory Interview with June and the audience. Moderator and Interviewer: Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com and JCHR Facebook Group Co-Host - Rosa Borg - from Malta

Using Creative Arts For Coping with Trauma. JCHR Trauma Support Group Havurah 12.7.2023 for Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Facebook Community and JCHRnow.com Presenters and Demonstrations... Rabbi Sheryl Kamen - Let's Get Dancing" Mark Newhouse - "Creative Written Expression" Ruth Lindemann - "To Survive Is Not Enough" Dr. Debra Borys - "Sculpting for Wellness" Jackie Gmach - Musical Expression "We Are The Tree Of Life" Eva Moreimi - "Baking Memories of Mom" (OBM) Moderator - Jeffery Giesener - Founder of Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Group on Facebook and JCHRnow.com Co-Host - Rosa Borg

Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCRHnow.com and JCHR Facebook Group presents "Food Memories and Their Connections & "Speaking Yiddish To Chickens" A Delightfully Warm and Fun Program For Times Like These... "Food Memories and Their Connection To Love Ones" with Dr. Dana Shrager Intermission: "The Kindness of Magic" a Short Talk - by Werner Reich "Speaking Yiddish to Chickens" with Dr. Judith Tellerman & Dr. Sol Pinczweski & Freddi Pakier Moderator and Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Jeffery Giesener Rosa Borg - Co-Host Chat Text file is presented at https://jchrnow.circle.so/c/media-cha... Presented November 19th 2023.

The Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Group presents...Trauma Support Group Havurah A Rabbis Forum a discussion about the War in Israel and the Shoah with Audience Participation Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg (New Jersey), Rabbi Francis Nataf (Israel), Rabbi Jerry Kowalski (NYC), and Rabbi Sheryl Kamen (Texas). Moderated by Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com and JCHR Facebook Group. Program produced 11.7.2023

The War In Israel...Memories, worries, and evoked Trauma. A discussion between Survivors, and 2/3G's 10.10. 2023 With Physcolgists Dr. Dana Shrager and Dr. Lynne Meyer Moderator: Jeffery Giesener - Founder of JCHR Facebook Group and JCHRnow.com Yesterday I got a call from a Survivor who desperately wanted to speak to me. She wanted to talk to me and share her trauma that we are heading for another Holocaust. The War In Israel has put her in a Depression Whirlpool brings back many of her Holocaust Triggers. IS THIS HAPPENING TO YOU AS WELL. ARE YOU A SURVIVOR? DO YOU NEED TO VOICE YOUR CONCERNS? PLEASE SHARE THIS WIDELY AND WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS. WE ARE ALL ONE COMMUNITY. I am asking you all to join me in helping others in need of healing. Micheberachs to those lost, wounded, and for the future of the State Of Israel.

JEWISH CULTURE AND HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE GROUP PRESENTS… “WE ARE THE TREE OF LIFE” Sunday, September 18th, 2022 WITH JACKIE GMACH - Holocaust Surviv SAMI STEIGMANN - Holocaust Survivor JACKIE GMACH’S, “WE ARE THE TREE OF LIFE©,” is designed to share the important lessons of the Holocaust while emphasizing the role in which cultural expression was nurtured in the concentration camps and ghettos. Many victims survived by producing remarkable works of art, music, literature, and dance. These stories through “WE ARE THE TREE OF LIFE,” are now shared with the world. Born in Tunisia at the outbreak of WW2, Jackie is also one of the Project Directors for the Middle East/North Africa Collection of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute. Jacqueline has authored “From Bomboloni to Bagel: A Story of Two Worlds” and the upcoming novel, “The Antiphonary of Love: The Call of The Scroll.” I AM NOT WHAT HAPPENED TO ME, I AM WHAT I CHOOSE TO BE! SAMI STEIGMANN has been many things. He has been a victim of the Holocaust. When he was liberated, he became a survivor. Now, he is a motivational speaker.Sami's experience is invaluable. Few people on this earth have gone through the atrocities he faced when he was just a child, and he was able to transform himself from a victim into a social action agent. Learn about Sami's story, and how he can help you. Musical Guest: JACKIE GMACH Moderator: Jeffery Giesener - Founder of Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRNow.com and JCHR Group on Facebook

Moderator: Jeffery Giesener - Founder Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com and JCHR Facebook Group

Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com and JCHR Facebook Group presents... From Generation to Generation L'Dor V'Dor with musical introduction... Musical Intro - 10 min With Authors:  Joan Gluckauf Haahr  Prisoners of Memory: A Jewish Family from Nazi Germany, In her recently published book, Prisoners of Memory: A Jewish Family from Nazi Germany, Joan Gluckauf Haahr realized her lifelong ambition to uncover the details behind the bare statistics in German archives and historical records about her German Jewish family, both those who perished and those who survived the Nazi regime.  The daughter of German Jewish refugees, she inherited more than 1,500 letters and hundreds of photographs from her mother which — supplemented by more than twenty years of research  — became the basis of this intimate study of what happened to her family and their world. Mirla Raz The Birds Sang Eulogies In the mid-1990s Mirla Geclewicz Raz videotaped her parent's Holocaust experiences. Years later, their riveting stories were memorialized in the book The Birds Sang Eulogies: A Memoir. Daniel Geslewitz, nee Gedalia Geclewicz, survived the Lodz Ghetto, Auschwitz, and 6 subsequent concentration camps. Barely alive on May 2, 1945, he was liberated by American soldiers. Mirla's mother's survival trajectory began when Hitler broke his pact with Stalin. Anna Geslewitz, nee Charlota Gersten, survived the Lvov Ghetto. She obtained papers as a Catholic and fled to Germany where she worked as a maid in a German household. During the German retreat, she was forced to dig trenches for the retreating German army. Liberated in January 1945, she made her way back to Lvov. Refusing to stay in Poland, Anna moved to Luneburg, Germany where she met Daniel. Marilyn Price  From Gratitude To Blessings and Back Marilyn travels around the United States teaching and telling both classic tales and stories of her own making.  Her puppet characters are often made of every day and easily accessible objects that enhance not only the telling but the value of the story!  Her clients range from libraries to schools to large museums, faith communities, and beyond!  It is her thought that stories and visual objects will encourage the imagination and help with literary skills.  Currently, Marilyn is a partner at TriBraining Inc. a not-for-profit organization that emphasizes teaching educators of all sorts how to reach all different genres of learners.  With a specialty in creativity training and listening she uses humor and personal interaction to reach out and teach.  Her latest book FROM GRATITUDE TO BLESSINGS AND BACK was published using Jewish blessings and stories with Rabbi David Teutsch and is available from Amazon as well as her other work. She has a weekly show on Facebook accounts The Mentor Project, TriBraining, and her own site. www.TriBraining.or With Special Film Guest - Becky Tahel - "American Birthright" The program Moderator is Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com and JCHR Facebook Group

Abe and Miriam Mizliach are interviewed for the Obligations Of Memory L'Dor V'Dor Interview Series recorded 11.10.2022 Interviewer: Jeffery Giesener Recorded: 11.10.2022 Abe and Miriam share common memories of their parent's childhood in Greece and Poland respectively. Both Abe and Miriam are Second Generation Survivors. The stories they share demonstrate the strength and resistance of their parents and their ability to not only survive but thrive in the United States. Abe and Miriam met each other in a 2G Shoah Group in CA and have been married for more than 30 years. They share stories of growing up in Survivors' homes and their relationships with their siblings. Both sets of parents found each other in German DP Camps and then came both came to America in 1950. Abe's story of how his mom met his dad is priceless. Another lovely and enjoyable Obligations of Memory L'Dor V'Dor interview with both Abe and Miriam as we bond over the fact that we are all second-generation survivors.

Episode 3 for The Obligations Of Memory Podcast Network L'Dor V'Dor Interview Series Randi was raised in Beverly Hills, California, the youngest child of Holocaust survivors. My mother's greatest gift to me was her positive outlook in difficult and trying times —something that's helped me throughout my life. After attending UC Santa Barbara, I received my BA in Journalism from the University of Southern California and a Master of Science Management degree from Boston University. I was an Art Director in Los Angeles and Chicago, owned an art and frame Gallery in Israel, and worked in public relations before marrying and having a family. Like Alix, the main character in my memoir, Beverly Hills Concentration Camp, I had a life altering experience. One day in 2008, while driving to visit my mother, I turned my head to the left and heard a noise in my head. I thought nothing more about it, until I woke up the next day unable to move. Doctors told me I'd never be able to use my left arm again unless I had surgery within a week to place metal disks in my neck. But something inside told me I was supposed to go in a different direction. The direction I chose — alternative healing — would forever change my life. My personal healing journey, working through all the layers of trauma and disappointment, taught me many tools I still use in my life today. I began training as a healer and Shaman and discovered that healing others not only helped me heal but came naturally. I now believe I went through all that distress because I was meant to help others get through their own challenges. Today I continue to expand my skills as a Healer, while continuing to help others dive deep into extraordinary energy, joy and wellness.I live in Los Angeles with my husband and two children. The interview was conducted on August 11, 2022 for the Obligations Of Memory Podcast Network by Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Group on Facebook/YouTube Video Channel /Spotify/Amazon/Apple/YouTube and Google Podcasts. Episode 3 If you have a story that touches the Shoah and you would like to be considered for an interview, write a short synopsis of your story and email it to jeffgthebaker@gmail.com for consideration.

Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com and Facebook JCHR Group. Moderated by Jeffery Giesener - Founder Second Generation Survivor Rosette Ruttman from Toronto, Canada speaks about how her mother and her mother's 2 sisters were the first 1000 deportees transported to Auschwitz from Slovakia in May 1942. This first transport is detailed in the book entitled 999: The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz by Heather Dune Macadam and Caroline Moorehead. available on Amazon. The three sisters survived Auschwitz. Rosette's father was forced by the Nazis in Poland to do heavy labor destroying and repairing roads in Poland. The Nazis needed to move their heavy guns and tanks traveling east through Poland. Rosette's father was an inmate in several concentration camps including Sachsenhousen concentration camp. We was liberated by the Russians in May 1945 and was sponsored by his aunt who was living already in London, Canada to come and live in the same town.. You will learn how Rosette's father met his bride to be and how each came to live in London Canada. The stories of how each of the family made their careers in their newly adopted country. And how Rosette was born 8 years after their marriage. Rosette lovingly speaks about growing up in a very unique set of a two family home and living with what she describes as living with two sets of parents. She then leaves home to go to the University of Toronto, meeting her husband, eventually meeting Steve who is a dentist in Toronto. Wait and listen for a cute and funny story of how Rosette's family met Steve and how Rosette met Steve's parents. Rosette also discusses the birth of her only daughter and the raising of their only child who is now getting her masters at the University of Toronto. Rosette also shares with us some of her parents Holocaust traumas and how she inherited some of them. We collective discuss our Intergenerational Survivor Trauma and hear how Rosette's daughter shares in Intergenerational Survivor Trauma. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-integenerational-trauma-5211898 You'll enjoy listening to all of Rosette's three episodes as she shares intimate family memories contained in a series of wonderfully emotive discussions all recorded for the Obligations Of Memory Podcast Network in conjunction with the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Group on Facebook and YouTube Jeffery Giesener moderates and the recordings were made on 6.16.2022

Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com presents Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: There Will Be Stories   Sunday, July 23rd, 2023 With Authors: Robert Wolf - Not a Real Enemy: The True Story of a Hungarian Jewish Man’s Fight for Freedom Not a Real Enemy is the true story of Ervin Wolf and his family as the fascist tide of Eastern Europe takes hold of Hungary. From the Wolfs’ comfortable upper-class life to imprisonment, daring escapes, tragic deaths, cloak-and-dagger adventures, and Ervin’s final escape to freedom in the dead of night. Almost half a million Jewish Hungarians are deported to Auschwitz. Among the few surviving Hungarian Jews from this era were young men who, like Ervin Wolf, were forced into the brutal Labor Service where they were cut off from the outside world and forced to endure inhumane brutalities and servitude. Once freed, a new oppression took hold as communist rule under Stalin turned friends to foes, enveloped the nation in fear and suspicion, and tested everyone’s character and strength…Hungary, 1944 Jenna Zark – Crooked Lines: A Single Mom's Jewish Journey While trying to sort out the answer to this question along with the question of what being Jewish meant to her-Zark began writing. This book was born of the journey. Married to the cantor of a Jewish synagogue, trying to fit into a life she hadn't anticipated, Jenna is completely unprepared when her marriage falls apart. Now staring down the prospect of being a single mom, Jenna has to decide if and how to work with her former husband, now co-parent, to give her son a Jewish heritage. While the holidays and rituals in these pages are Jewish, the theme is universal and familiar to anyone who has ever experienced life-transforming loss. Crooked Lines is Jenna's honest and compelling story of navigating divorce, single parenthood, interfaith marriage, and losing parents while holding on to one's humor and traditions. A Family’s Fight For Freedom Dr. Ruth Samuel Tenenholtz - Land of Many Bridges - My Fathers Story   Land of Many Bridges is a riveting novel that tells the true story of the Samuel family as they forge a path to survival, often separated but always together in spirit. The author honors her family’s struggle and imparts an important history about the Holocaust in Holland. Land of Many Bridges is told from the perspective of five family members,  Bela Ruth Samuel Tenenholtz’s memoir recounts her family’s suffering during WWII, often reflecting on the long-lasting trauma and fissures caused by this event. From her two-year-old sister’s bleached hair, her parents’ immense feeling of survival guilt, and a daring escape from Camp Westerbork, the memoir spares no detail in sharing her family’s victories and failures. As the threat of Nazi violence against the Jews of Overijssel grows, David Simon Samuel ties a knot in the corner of his huge red handkerchief to remind him of the “inner whisper” warning him against the danger of Hitler. This marks the beginning of the horrifying years endured by David and his family. A page-turning tale of suspense, tragedy, comedy, and ultimately, triumph. Curated, Produced and Moderated by Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com Group

Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com Group presents "RAYS OF HOPE" with authors: Jennifer Steil - Exile Music Keith Newhouse - My Tio's Pulse  Blima Lorber - Jewish Partisans Musical Guest Josh Nelson Jennifer Steil’s Exile Music.  As a young girl growing up in Vienna in the 1930s, Orly has an idyllic childhood filled with music. Her father plays the viola in the Philharmonic, her mother is a well-regarded opera singer, her beloved and charismatic older brother holds the neighborhood in his thrall, and most of her eccentric and wonderful extended family live nearby. Only vaguely aware of Hitler's rise or how her Jewish heritage will define her family's identity, Orly spends her days immersed in play with her best friend and upstairs neighbor, Anneliese. Together they dream up vivid and elaborate worlds, where they can escape the growing tensions around them. But in 1938, Orly's peaceful life is shattered when the Germans arrive. Her older brother flees Vienna first, and soon Orly, her father, and her mother procure refugee visas for La Paz, a city high up in the Bolivian Andes. Even as the number of Jewish refugees in the small community grows, her family is haunted by the music that can no longer be their livelihood, and by the family and friends they left behind. While Orly and her father find their footing in the mountains, Orly's mother grows even more distant, harboring a secret that could put their family at risk again. Years pass, the war ends, and Orly must decide: Is the love and adventure she has found in La Paz what defines home, or is the pull of her past in Europe--and the piece of her heart she left with Anneliese--too strong to ignore?   Keith Newhouse’s My Tio’s Pulse. Often, in answers to simple questions, children deal with difficult and sensitive issues.   As parents, we need to have the tools that help us with these difficult topics and explain them in a way that children can understand without causing fear or anxiety. Why are you crying, Tio Luis?   When Angel learned how to take his pulse in gym class, he never imagined the effect that his newfound knowledge would have on his Uncle Luis... or the conversations that it would start.   Using expert language from Psychotherapist Kenny Tello, who worked directly with children affected by Pulse and featuring illustrations by over 20 passionate artists, My Tio’s Pulse explains what happened at the Pulse Nightclub on June 12, 2016, clearly and simply will give children the tools to talk about difficult topics and empower them to feel safe.   Blima Lorber – The presentation is about Jewish Partisans in WW2. Estimates are that around 30 thousand Jews escaped from Nazi ghettos and camps to form or join organized resistance groups. They joined of non-Jewish groups that fought against the Nazis. However, some groups did not accept Jews into their ranks, so they had to hide this condition to be accepted in the units. This was an important factor in the creation of Jewish resistance groups.   After the war, several partisans came to Brazil, where most of them did not reveal their past as freedom fighters. Their legacies now come to light as their children, grandchildren, historians, and researchers recall their stories of courage and struggles, revealing that there was resistance on several fronts and that Jews did not passively surrender to their destruction. If they had to die, they would die fighting. Recorded June 25th 2023. Moderated by Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com Group Founder - Jeffery Giesener

Obligations Of Memory Podcast Iser Flaum author of "Under My Bubbe's Wing available on Amazon.com talks about why he wrote the stories contained in the book in an series of four episodes for the Obligations Of Memory Podcast Network. Iser speaks through his father's voice which provides a true-life memoir of defiant endurance through cruelty and traumatic loss, leading to ultimate survival. The author presents his father’s ordeals during five and a half years of Nazi captivity during the Holocaust. Included is a section of his mother’s similar experiences, although limited by her difficulty in discussing this topic. As the title infers, throughout his father David, perceives the aura of his late grandma’s spirit protecting him with her angelic wings, as vowed in an early vision. Besides the brutal forced labor, extreme hunger, and massive life upheaval, there are numerous near-death escapes. He consistently feels luck being steered his way. With this fortune, perseverance, and daring he ends up as the lone survivor of his large family. A similar outcome applies to the author’s mother. Narrated from a first-person viewpoint it depicts forced migrations, Warsaw ghetto internment, and an ever worsening struggle to survive. Finally he must endure a series of Nazi camps for years until Russian liberation brings the war’s end. He becomes aware of the complete loss of family, being alone in the world in his early twenties. Finally free, DP camp life offers renewal, marriage, USA migration, and starting over. During the interview Iser shares how he left his survivor home to get his Master's in Engineering from Duke University, how me his wife of over 45 years Joni and raised three children. Iser and Joni have 2 grandchildren. Obligation Of Memory Podcast Interview conducted 7.25.2022 by Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Group on the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Facebook Group and the YouTube Video Channel. If you have a story about the Shoah you would like to share, to quality send an email to jeffgthebaker@gmail.com with a short synopsis of your story. I will be back in touch with you. The Obligation Of Memory Podcast publishes a new episode or series every week. Listen on Spotify/YouTube & Google Podcasts/Anchor/PodBean/Apple/Amazon and many other networks. Episode 1 If you have a story that touches the Shoah and you would like to be considered for an interview, write a short synopsis of your story and email it to jeffgthebaker@gmail.com for consideration.

Stand Up To Jewish Hate: Professor Jeffrey Demsky, The Butterfly Project and The Paper Clip Project

Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com Group presents...

FROM THE DARKNESS OF THE SHOAH INTO THE LIGHT Recorded 7.17.2022 LUCY ADLINGTON The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive within the Auschwitz concentration camp.   At the height of the Holocaust twenty-five, young inmates of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration was selected to design, cut, and sew beautiful fashions for elite Nazi women. Drawing on diverse sources – including interviews with the last surviving seamstress – The Dressmakers of Auschwitz follows the fates of these brave women. Adlington exposes the greed, cruelty, and hypocrisy of the Third Reich and offers a fresh look at a little-known chapter of the Second World War and the Holocaust.      Lucy Adlington is a British-based historian and writer with more than twenty years’ specialization in social history. BENJAMIN MIDLER A Life of A Child Survivor From Bialystok, Poland Holocaust Survivor of six concentration camps, Ben who turns 95 this June 27th will speak to us about his life, detailed in his fantastic book “A Life of A Child Survivor From Bialystok, Poland”. Ben lived, worked in Israel, and fought in the War of Independence in 1948. In Israel, Ben married Esther his wife of 71 years (Esther passed in 2022). Ben works diligently educating our children and other audiences on the lessons of the Holocaust and #NeverAgain. We are honored to have Ben presents his amazing story of living through the darkness of the Holocaust into the light of the many next phases of his life. When Ben speaks one feels the HOPE that drives his life every day!   DAVID LEE PRESTON Honoring my mother and father July 15 marks 71 years since my parents Halina Wind Preston and George Preston were married in my uncle’s Connecticut synagogue in 1951. My talk honors two Jews who emerged from the depths of hell. One endured both Auschwitz and Buchenwald, then had a long career as an engineer with the Du Pont Co. The other hid for 14 months in the sewers of Lviv and was among the first survivors of the Nazis to speak publicly throughout the United States. They met in the U.S. in 1950. I was born five years later.   During four decades as a journalist in Philadelphia, I've explored my parents' lives and other matters concerning the Holocaust. I wrote a trilogy of cover stories about my parents in The Philadelphia Inquirer's Sunday magazine, one of which made me a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing. My work has exposed former Nazis in the U.S., including ethnic leaders in the Republican Party. I also have examined how a Swiss financier of fascism used Nazi funds to promote postwar Arab terrorism. My presentation will explore the ways in which my life and journalism career were molded by the marriage of my beloved parents.   Musical Guest: Lenkta Lichtenberg Lenka Lichtenberg is a Canadian musician, composer, and producer who draws on the rich, intercultural Toronto soundscapes to create her own unique global sound. She has won the Canadian Folk Music and the International Independent Music Award Lenka’s latest project is ‘The Thieves of Dreams,’ based on poems she recently unearthed that were written by her grandmother while she was being held in the Theresienstadt concentration camp during World War 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl0nZDxUhG0 Program moderated by Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Group on Facebook and YouTube Video and recently launched Obligation Of Memory Podcast Network on Spotify/Apple/Amazon/Google/YouTube Podcasts, PODBean, Anchor and other podcast networks. If you would like to be considered for a interview please share your family story with me by emailing a short synopsis of the story to Jeffgthebaker@gmail.com

Stories That Survive -- The Glassmakers Son and Heirs of Auschwitz JCHRnow.com The Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Group Live ZOOM Event Recording. Peter Kupfer author of The Glassmaker's Son and Dr. Jack Fried author of Heirs of Auschwitz: A True Story of the Holocaust, Transforming Inter-generational Trauma, and the Meaning of Existence. Musical Guest - Noah Aaronson Sunday, December 11th, 2022 The Glassmakers Son A blend of memoir and history, “The Glassmaker’s Son” by Peter Kupfer recounts the author’s decades-long quest to uncover the world his father left behind in Nazi Germany. Along the way he makes a series of surprising discoveries about his family, who were important players in the Bavarian glassmaking industry. After his grandfather was forced to sell the family villa, for instance, the Nazis turned it into their regional headquarters before it was destroyed by American artillery in the closing days of the war. In another twist, using a cache of old letters found in his parent's attic and other documents, Kupfer pieces together the details of his grandfather’s deportation and murder at Theresienstadt, a concentration camp in western Czechoslovakia touted by the Gestapo as a “spa town” for distinguished Jews. At heart, “Glassmaker” is about a search for identity — the identity of the author’s soft-spoken, inscrutable father, and of the author himself. Heirs of Auschwitz You can find countless stories of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust as told firsthand by those souls that have witnessed, lived through, and survived indescribable horror. From great retellings from authors such as Elie Wiesel to dramatized, influential works of fiction from writers including John Boyne, it becomes clear the Holocaust has impacted more than the people that directly experienced it. Musical Guest: Noah Aronson Moderated by Dr. Dana Shrager and Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the JCHRnow.com

Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com Group presents Hand Of Gold -- Roni Robbins, Dr. Mehak Burza and Abe Mazliach with Guest Musical Presenters: Floralove Katz and the Ottawa Klezmer Band Yom HaShoah JCHRnow.com 2023 Program Series Part 2 -- April 16, 2023 Moderated by Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the JCHRnow.com and Dr. Dana Shrager. Dr. Mehak Burza Holocaust education is neither mandatory nor prevalent in India. India represents a country that was neither directly affected nor involved with the Holocaust. As the timeline of the Holocaust overlaps the timeline of the struggle for freedom for the Indian subcontinent, the later events overshadow the former. Equating the partition of India with the Holocaust and tagging the Holocaust as one of the genocides, represents one of the few misconceptions about the Holocaust in India that often strips off the uniqueness of the catastrophic event. Dr. Burza will address the present status of Holocaust education in Indian schools and universities. She will also address the need of creating awareness regarding the Holocaust in India through relevant examples. Roni Robbins, Award-winning author-journalist Roni Robbins has been a published writer for 35 years. discusses how she kept family memories alive and preserved Jewish history and culture through her novel Hands of Gold. It's a heartwarming story about a fictional Sam Fox that began with cassette tapes he left his family. Sam came from nothing. A simple Jewish farmhand from Hungary, he spent most of his adult life running from danger, changing identities, skipping borders, harboring secrets, and fighting a devastating illness. The novel, based on an inspiring true story, offers an old-world take on several topics in the news today: A sometimes-fatal respiratory illness, life as an immigrant, and a mass shooting. Hands of Gold begins and ends with a remarkable secret and a past worth chronicling. Robbins shares how you can follow a similar path to document the meaningful contributions of those who helped shape your world and enrich the lives of others. Abe’ Mazliachs parents Leon and Lola survived the Holocaust and, after liberation, met and were married in the Feldafing, Germany Displaced persons camp. Abe shares their story. Music: Floralove Katz and the Ottawa Klezmer Band

Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHrnow.com Group presents

Guri Stark -- ART AND THE HOLOCAUST: CAPTURING BEAUTY, BRUTALITY, HOPE A unique lecture on a topic that is not commonly discussed in the context of the Holocaust - the art of the Holocaust. Art is a powerful representation of the horrors, the hope, the anger, and the hopelessness experienced by Jews during and after the holocaust. Through personal stories of victims, survivors, and children artists, we will cover real examples of art created by them. We will observe and discuss how art has created a visual, long-living record of the Holocaust experienced. How it has been used as evidence for what really happened, how it helped children cope, and imagine a better world, and how it became a form of resistance by the artists.

Moderator: Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com Group

Holocaust Survivor Zelda Fuksman WE REMEMBER YOU presentation for The Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com Group

Holocaust Survivor Zelda Fuksman speaks about how she came out of the Darkness of the Holocaust into the Light of the many next phases of her life. She also leaves us with a strong Yom HaShoah message. Interview with Jeffery Giesener Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Group on Facebook, JCHRnow.com, Spotify, Apple, Google, and YouTube. When Zelda educates children on the six million Jews murdered in the Shoah, men, women, and children she asks students can you write 2,000 names in a day on your blackboard? That's a lot of writing. Well, you would have to write 2,000 names for 8 1/2 years to reach the 6 million murdered in the Shoah. And I am speaking to 100 students here today. How many do you think of your fellow classmates here today would have survived? Please look to your right, then left and front and back. Do you know only 8 of you would have Survived the Holocaust? That's right only eight of you. This is why we must remember and why we must always teach the lessons of the Holocaust even when I am no longer here. You must continue to remember so Holocausts and Genocides will NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN

Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com Group Presents... HOLOCAUST STORIES THAT SURVIVE. WITH DANIEL SEYMOUR/Manci Grunberger Beran and Ruth Grunberger Mermelstein—who survived Auschwitz TOMMY SCHNURMACHER FRANNIE SHERIDAN Daniel Seymour/Manci Grunberger Beran and Ruth Grunberger Mermelstein—who survived Auschwitz TWO DISTINCTIVELY DIFFERENT TRIUMPHS OVER EVIL The personal stories of two sisters—Manci Grunberger Beran and Ruth Grunberger Mermelstein—who survived Auschwitz extend far beyond the Holocaust. Indeed, they have thrived in very different lives but only because of the personal bond that they have for one another: From Auschwitz with Love. Both sisters describe this bond in the memoir, diary materials, and “in their own voices” during this presentation. Additionally, Daniel Seymour will discuss the importance of how this passion project, and other projects like it, need to be part of our collective responsibility to Never Forget. Manci and Ruth will be joining Daniel for this presentation. Tommy Schnurmacher MAKEUP TIPS FROM AUSCHWITZ.: HOW VANITY SAVED MY MOTHER’S LIFE Makeup Tips from Auschwitz. How Vanity Saved My Mother’s Life details the foibles of his tumultuous relationship with his Holocaust survivor Mom who looked like Elizabeth Taylor and sounded like Zsa Zsa Gabor. The humorous presentation by this veteran radio broadcaster will answer several questions. How did his family escape from Hungary? How did Mom use her wits and her chutzpah to survive Auschwitz? What did she say to Robert Redford at the Academy Awards? Why did Omar Sharif invite her to his table and how on earth did she manage to charm a 6’4” Los Angeles cop?   Frannie Sheridan FROM TRAUMA TO NIRVANA   Throughout her journey from TRAUMA to NIRVANA! Performer, Writer, and Cookie Eater Frannie Sheridan has been entertaining and educating audiences internationally for decades. Raised to believe that sharing the truth of her identity would get her killed, the child of Jewish Holocaust survivors from Vienna and Germany, Frannie ultimately journeyed out of the dark wormhole of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) into PTJO (post-traumatic JOY!) Using truth-telling through performance as therapy-on-wheels, all the while collecting Mayoral Awards for her solo character shows THE WALTONSTEINS and CONFESSIONS OF A JEWISH SHIKSA   Musical Guest:  ALY HALBERT Program Moderated by Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Group on Facebook/YouTube Video/Obligations Of Memory Podcast Network. Program recorded live 8.14.2022   I am happy to announce the launch of our new JCHR YouTube Channel. All JCHR Programming is now recorded for On-Demand viewing. You can now subscribe and watch all of the programs On-Demand and I am thrilled to be able to provide this new JCHR Channel to everyone. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCks6pmLR13LIAQhs3pUznYA/videos   All JCHR Programs are Absolutely Free and open to anyone.   Please feel free to invite friends, family, and your communities to the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Group with your friends, family, and community, please share this link to join.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/783384202591588 If you have a family story about the Shoah that you would like to share on the NEW THE OBLIGATIONS OF MEMORY Interview Series Is looking to share your story! Send an email of inquiry with a short background story to JeffGthebaker@gmail.com and request an interview.

Yom HaShoah Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance 2023 JCHRnow.com Remembrance Through Art and Music - Part 1 of a 3 part series. March 19, 2023 Zola Shuman shares the story and songs of her mother, her Uncle Leyb Rosenthal who wrote for the Ghetto Theatre productions and highlights the powerful spiritual resistance, life, strength, comfort, and hope the music gave to the inmates.  Zola will also perform her original song “Hert Zich Tsu -We Will Remember You”, written as a tribute to all survivors, and their families lost and as a promise to all future generations.   That We Are Still Here”.    Robin E. Bernstein’s series of 18 artworks entitled Beauty and Terror responds and speaks to the Holocaust. The stories in the collection range from well-documented aspects to lesser-known crimes and stories of redemption. Each art piece has been created by pressing thousands of tiny cut pieces of colored string into wax. The artworks have been intentionally made to be beautiful: highly colored, freely shaped, obsessively crafted, carefully composed, and inviting to look at. The viewer is compelled to step close and on inspection can then absorb the stories. The surface texture and repetitive artistic process help to carry the content as well as respect and honor the victims of the Holocaust.    These artworks have been made as acts of political resistance in a time of rising autocracy worldwide. They serve as warnings, memorials, and to educate viewers. This work uses visual art to push back against historical amnesia.    Judith Tellerman’s songs pertaining to the Shoah are a compilation of archival pieces Judith has restored, preserved, and recorded together with the original songs she has composed. Judith’s music touches on the historical relevance and special relationship to her family Shoah history and her cousin, the martyr, Arthur Szmul Zygielbaum. Judith’s voice is beautiful and firmly grounded in Jewish tradition, and her songbook reflects those values musically beautifully. Ursula Duba's poems and essays read from her book "G E R M A N Y THE LEGACY OF BYSTANDERS, COWARDS, INFORMERS, DESKTOP MURDERERS, AND EXECUTIONERS". Essays read by Jeffery Giesener Program Moderator: Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance JCHRnow.com

MEANING OF LEGACY Guests Hank Greenspan, Miriam Friedmann Morris and Zola Shulman April 10, 2022 MEANING OF LEGACY first starts with LEARNING TOGETHER.

Going beyond testimony as usually understood. In learning together, testimony becomes the beginning of conversation rather than the end; declaration ("this I witnessed") becomes sustained exploration.

HENRY (HANK) GREENSPAN holds degrees from Harvard University (B.A, M.Ed.) and Brandeis University (Ph.D.) and held a Junior Fellowship of the Michigan Society of Fellows during which he did his doctoral research. He completed clinical internships (psychology) at the Brandeis Psychological Counseling Center and the University of Michigan Psychological Clinic. Greenspan is the author of On Listening to Holocaust Survivors: Beyond Testimony (now in its second and expanded edition) and, with Agi Rubin, Reflections: Auschwitz, Memory, and a Life Recreated as well as numerous articles on survivors' retelling, including the chapter on survivors' accounts for the Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies. He has been the annual Weinmann lecturer at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington (USHMM). In 2011, he co-led with Wendy Lower the annual Hess Seminar for Professors of Holocaust Courses at the USHMM. In 2012, he was the Fulbright Visiting Research Chair at the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling at Concordia University in Montreal.

He received the 2020 article award from the Oral History Association for "The Humanities of Contingency: Interviewing and Teaching Beyond 'Testimony' with Holocaust Survivors." Most recently, he has been working with Sweden in helping plan the first Holocaust museum in that country. His award-winning play, REMNANTS, was originally produced for radio at WUOM-FM in 1991 and distributed to NPR and APR. Greenspan has since presented it as a one-person stage performance at more than 300 venues worldwide. More recent plays include "Done is Done," "Death / Play, or the Mad Jester of the Warsaw Ghetto," "The Stall," "The Spike," "The Perfect Game," "East Angels," "Boxes," "AmericaNirvana," "Arithmetic," "Gravediggers," and "The Aquarium."

HIs most recent play, "Gravediggers," is a short one-act set in the midst of the war in Ukraine. He is a lifetime member of the Dramatists Guild. Miriam Friedman Morris Miriam Friedman Morris is the daughter of Auschwitz survivors David and Hildegard Friedman(n). Art shaped her life. Fascination with her father’s Nazi-looted art launched a four-decade quest to find lost works and ensure his rightful place in history. Her pursuit launched a worldwide revival of an artist obscured by the Nazi regime. It even led to an episode “Holocaust Diary” on the Fox Business News show, Strange Inheritance. Morris, who lives in New York, facilitates exhibitions, lectures and writes — and is dedicated to the preservation of her father’s art legacy. She has co-written a book, traveled the world, is a recognized lecturer and author of several articles. A new Holocaust documentary, "Dear Miriam - The Art and Survival of David Friedmann", by Emmy Award Winner John Rokosny, is currently in production. Morris is currently writing a book about her father’s life through art: http://z.umn.edu/davidfriedmann. ZOLA Shuman Zola is a singer~songwriter, composer, performance coach, creative content consultant and performing artist. Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Zola Shuman, a Billboard award winning composer, lived in Boston USA for over twenty years, debuting her jazz album "Here With You" at Scullers Jazz Club in 2007. She has released a number of original CD's for children and adults, written commissioned works for international fund-raising charity organizations and for film: Silver Hammer Studios ("The Dancing Pumpkin"- 2007) and Reel Action Productions ("Generation To Generation" -2020). Moderator: Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remberance JCHRnow.com Group JCHR Yom HaShoah 2022 Program #2

The Boy Who Drew Auschwitz: A Powerful True Story of Hope and Survival 

 A story about the past with powerful messages for the future – Holocaust Survivor Thomas Geves documented the past and became an active witness out of a wish and hope for this testimony to raise people's awareness of the true events of the past in detail, their effect on people and the way people coped with them, some surviving them against all odds. 

Learning about the past has a value of its own, but learning from it, can teach us a lot about ourselves, about our present life.

Thomas' testimony carries his hope and wishes for people to learn from the past, live accordingly and create a better future. 

Presented by Yifat Geves - Daughter of Thomas

Moderator Jeffery Giesener - Founder of JCHRnow.com

CHRnow.com EVERYONE HAS A STORY   

Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Group presents...JCHRnow.com  Presenters...  

Jennifer Coburn is the author of “Cradles of the Reich”. “Cradles of the Reich” is a historical novel about three very different women living at a Nazi Lebensborn breeding home at the start of World War ll. Cradles of the Reich provides a cautionary tale for modern times told in stunning detail. The book also carries an uplifting reminder of the power of women to set aside differences and work together in solidarity in the face of oppression.   

Jeannette Grunhaus de Gelman is the author of “On Sunny Days We Sang”. When the Nazis march into de Gelman’s little Polish shtetl at the start of World War II, the Jews of Wlodawa see their lives abruptly torn apart. For Hil and Alexandra, the author’s parents, it marks the beginning of a struggle to survive during which they will experience ghettos, roundups, hiding places, and false identities, a struggle where the line between life and death will depend on small decisions made along the way. With the story of the destruction of Polish Jewry as a backdrop, Jeannette tells us the remarkable tale of her parents’ journey, which will take them from the dark years in Europe at war to safety and a new life in Venezuela.   

Musical Guests Songs of Protest - Baraye  Thousands of women have gathered on the streets of Tehran to protest mandatory veiling and in support of equal rights and non-discrimination. Viewed in historical context, Iranian women have been leading a fight for justice for over 40 years, despite violent threats to their lives and livelihoods.  We call out Human Rights Violations for Women in Iran  In solidarity with the brave women and all protesters of Iran   

Recorded 2.19.2023  

Moderated by JCHRnow.com Founder -- Jeffery Giesener  

NEW... JCHRnow.com  -- Everything Jewish...Every Day!   Join, Post, Share

JCHRnow.com Havurah: Managing Intergenerational Survivor Trauma L'Dor  V'Dor Obligations of Memory Series for the Jewish Culture and Holocaust  Remembrance is moderated by Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the JCHRnow.com     

This is an exclusive, inclusive discussion session and NOT a Therapy  Discussion Group. In fact, there will be no mental health professionals proving services or tools in this capacity.   

The program is viewable on The JCHRnow.com YouTube Media Channel, The  JCHRnow.com VIEWseum, Spotify, Apple, Google, and Podbean.   

Program Goals and Features:   

● Our hope is that this unique program will lead to a better understanding of Intergenerational Survivor Trauma and that the tools offered will help manage its effects.   

● The program will include a fully interactive component where audience members will have the option to respond to prompts and thoughts from the moderator and other members of the Havurah. Remember this program will only work if everyone feels included and has comfort in sharing their own personals. We will start by getting to know one another with each audience member giving a piece of family history, how your parents came through the Darkness of the Shoah to lead successful lives, and a bit about your own realized trauma.    

● We hope that by shedding light on inherited trauma, we will all feel less alone. As a community, we can work together toward healing the trauma and its aftermath.  

Jumpstart question for this session...  

What was it like to grow up in your Survivor parent's home?  For more information on how you join the Havurah Group email  jeffthebaker@gmail.com and ask to join and share why.

JEWISH CULTURE AND HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE GROUP JCHRnow.com PRESENTS   

WE ARE THE TREE OF LIFE  WITH JACKIE GMACH - Holocaust Survivor SAMI STEIGMANN - Holocaust Survivor   

WE ARE THE TREE OF LIFE  JACKIE GMACH’S DocuSeries, “WE ARE THE TREE OF LIFE©,” is designed to share the important lessons of the Holocaust while emphasizing the role in which cultural expression was nurtured in the concentration camps and ghettos. Many victims survived by producing remarkable works of art, music, literature, and dance. 

These stories through “WE ARE THE TREE OF LIFE,” are now shared with the world.  

Born in Tunisia at the outbreak of WW2, Jackie is also one of the Project Directors for the Middle East/North Africa Collection of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute. 

Jacqueline has authored “From Bomboloni to Bagel: A Story of Two Worlds” and the upcoming novel, “The Antiphonary of Love: The Call of The Scroll.” 

I AM NOT WHAT HAPPENED TO ME, I AM WHAT I CHOOSE TO BE!  SAMI STEIGMANN has been many things. He has been a victim of the Holocaust. When he was liberated, he became a survivor. Now, he is a motivational speaker. Sami's experience is invaluable. 

Few people on this earth have gone through the atrocities he faced when he was just a child, and he was able to transform himself from a victim into a social action agent. Learn about Sami's story, and how he can help you.  

Musical Guest: JACKIE GMACH 

Moderator: JEFFERY GIESENER    

L'Dor V'Dor From Generation To Generation   

As antisemitism is on the rise, sharing stories about the Holocaust is more important than ever. Join us for an intimate conversation with  Holocaust Survivors, their children, and adult grandchildren, as they share their stories of survival and family heritage.  Guest Presenter Mark Newhouse - The Devils Bookeeper's Trilogy  Moderator: Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and  Holocaust Remembrance Group JCHRnow.com  This event will emphasize the importance of sharing our family stories and the legacy of hope, resilience, and strength of our parents. 

This program will be recorded and streamed on demand.    Please bring other family members including an Adult 3G (if applicable)  with you to this event as each family Group will be given time to share their family stories of Survival and Legacy -- L'Dor V'Dor From  Generation To Generation.  Jeffery Giesener Founder will moderate the sessions.  Each of us has a story to share about beautiful memories of our parents.  Join us for another unique JCHRnow.com storytelling program where each member can share a special memory and or keepsake of one's parent.   

Please bring along your own Keepsake to share on the screen

Jenna Zark from the Twin Cities of Minnesota is joined for the  Obligations of Memory Interview by her cousins Dina and Brian Fine from  Long Island  

When you part company with the life you’ve been living and have to start  a new one, what do you do?  Jenna Zark didn’t expect to be divorced. She didn’t expect to be a  single mom—but when her son was three, that's exactly what happened.  After moving from New York to the Twin Cities because of her former  husband's job as a cantor at a synagogue, she knew very few people  outside the synagogue.   The idea of starting over was terrifying. And yet, and yet.  There is a saying that God paints crooked lines when leading us to the  people we were meant to meet. This book was born of the journey.    

Crooked Lines: A Single Mom’s Jewish Journey was written for people of  all faiths (or none)   Navigating divorce, single parenthood, interfaith marriage and losing  parents  Or if you’re going through these transitions and just need to know  someone else has been through it  Crooked Lines: A Single Mom's Jewish Journey is published by Koehler  Book and is available on Amazon.  Jenna Zark is an award-winning author and playwright. Her columns for TC  Jewfolk were the basis for Crooked Lines and frequently went viral at  sites around the country. Zark is also the author of two middle-grade  books, The Beat on Ruby’s Street and Fool’s Errand, released by Dragon  Moon   

Both books achieved a  top-50 ranking in Amazon’s Children and  Historical Fiction category several times. The Beat on Ruby’s Street won  first prize from Wishing Shelf awards in the UK and was a finalist for  the Minnesota Author’s Project. Zark was also a staff writer at  Scholastic magazine. Her play A Body of Water was published by  Dramatists Play Service, produced at Circle Repertory Company in New  York, and chosen by the National Foundation for Jewish Culture as a play  that "breaks new ground." She is also a lyricist and is still trying to  figure out if it’s easier to write a play, book or song. If you want to  weigh in on that, feel free to write via the contact page!  

The interviewer is Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and  Holocaust Remembrance. Recorded 9.9.2022

Stories That Survive -- The Glassmakers Son and Heirs of Auschwitz  JCHRnow.com The Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Group Live ZOOM  Event Recording.   Peter Kupfer author of The Glassmaker's Son and Dr. Jack Fried author of  Heirs of Auschwitz: A True Story of the Holocaust, Transforming  Inter-generational Trauma, and the Meaning of Existence. Musical Guest -  Noah Aaronson  Sunday, December 11th, 2022  The Glassmakers Son A blend of memoir and history, “The Glassmaker’s Son” by Peter Kupfer  recounts the author’s decades-long quest to uncover the world his father  left behind in Nazi Germany. Along the way he makes a series of  surprising discoveries about his family, who were important players in  the Bavarian glassmaking industry. After his grandfather was forced to  sell the family villa, for instance, the Nazis turned it into their  regional headquarters before it was destroyed by American artillery in  the closing days of the war. In another twist, using a cache of old  letters found in his parent's attic and other documents, Kupfer pieces  together the details of his grandfather’s deportation and murder at  Theresienstadt, a concentration camp in western Czechoslovakia touted by  the Gestapo as a “spa town” for distinguished Jews.  At heart, “Glassmaker” is about a search for identity — the identity of  the author’s soft-spoken, inscrutable father, and of the author himself.  Heirs of Auschwitz You can find countless stories of the atrocities committed during the  Holocaust as told firsthand by those souls that have witnessed, lived  through, and survived indescribable horror. From great retellings from  authors such as Elie Wiesel to dramatized, influential works of fiction  from writers including John Boyne, it becomes clear the Holocaust has  impacted more than the people that directly experienced it.  Musical Guest: Noah Aronson  Moderated by Dr. Dana Shrager and Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the  JCHRnow.com

JCHRnow.com Havurah - Managing Intergenerational Survivor Trauma -- Dec 14, 2022 

Evening Session 

Managing Intergenerational Survivor Trauma: Pilot  

An intimate group of Survivors, Second and Third Generational Survivors discussing their personal challenges and how they are managing them. The Pilot was designed to make introductions and the beginning process of sharing openly.   The Group had 7 audience participants and you do not need to be a member of the JCHRnow.com community. 

The program was 1.5 hours and moderated by Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the JCHRnow.com

Abe and Miriam Mizliach are interviewed for the Obligations Of Memory  L'Dor V'Dor Interview Series r

Interviewer: Jeffery Giesener  

Recorded: 11.10.2022  

Abe and Miriam share common memories of their parent's childhood in  Greece and Poland respectively. Both Abe and Miriam are Second  Generation Survivors. The stories they share demonstrate the strength  and resistance of their parents and their ability to not only survive  but thrive in the United States. Abe and Miriam met each other in a 2G  Shoah Group in CA and have been married for more than 30 years. They  share stories of growing up in Survivors' homes and their relationships  with their siblings. Both sets of parents found each other in German DP  Camps and then came both came to America in 1950. Abe's story of how his  mom met his dad is priceless.   Another lovely and enjoyable Obligations of Memory L'Dor V'Dor interview  with both Abe and Miriam as we bond over the fact that we are all  second-generation survivors.

Obligations Of Memory Interview Series with Peter Kupfer author of The Glassmaker's Son  “The Glassmaker’s Son” is a blend of memoir and family history that tells the story of my father, Robert Kupfer, the son of a  Jewish industrialist who fled Nazi Germany in 1937, through the eyes of a gay son who yearned to get closer to him and unlock the secrets of his past.  

Soft-spoken and inscrutable, with a guttural accent and a mischievous sense of humor, my father rarely spoke about his life in Germany before the war. It was only after he died in 1976, through the discovery of a cache of old letters and a series of visits to his hometown in Bavaria, that I learned the scope of his family’s glassmaking business (more than 20 factories in three countries) and the details of his desperate, ultimately unsuccessful effort to save his father from the Nazi genocide.  The book traces my father’s life growing up in the Oberpfalz in northeast Bavaria, fleeing to the United States, marrying into a family of strong-willed Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, and building a successful business making women’s clothing. 

It also explores my own life growing up in a middle-class Jewish home in Connecticut, coming to terms with my sexuality, and yearning to get closer to Dad and learn more about the glamorous life he once lived.  Using historical documents and family anecdotes, “Glassmaker" pieces together the details of my grandfather Otto’s deportation and murder at Theresienstadt, a concentration camp touted by the Gestapo as a “spa town” for distinguished Jews. It also recounts a series of surprising discoveries I made in Dad's hometown. After my grandfather was forced to sell the family villa, for instance, the Nazis turned the house into their regional headquarters; it was destroyed by American artillery in the closing days of the war.  In another surprising twist, shortly after my first visit to Weiden, I received a letter from my grandfather’s former housekeeper informing me that he had entrusted her with a pair of oil portraits of my great grandparents, which she had been “guarding” ever since, hoping to return them one day to a member of my family. 

The process of recovering them, as I recount, was a long and convoluted one.  At its heart, Glassmaker is about a search for identity — both my father's and my own. It will appeal to readers interested in Jewish history and culture, in the Holocaust, in gay themes, and more broadly in family life and personal history.   About Peter Kupfer: I am a veteran journalist with experience writing and editing stories about business, technology, culture and other subjects for major newspapers and magazines, including the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Observer and Metropolis magazine. I was an editor at the San Francisco Chronicle for many years. Peter can be reached at peter.kupfer@gmail.com  

Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance was the interview for the Obligations of Memory Podcast Network.   Recorded 4.6.2022

A HOLOCAUST MEMOIR OF LOVE AND RESISTANCE" Mama's Survival from  Lithuania to America. A terrific read from author Dr. Ettie Zilber  available on Amazon.   

Ettie Zilber presents her book and story for the JCHRnow Obligations Of  Memory Interview Series. Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the JCHRnow is  the Interviewer.   

Dr. Ettie Zilber parents who both were Holocaust survivors. Mom survived  Stutthof Concentration Camp and her father hid and was liberated by the   Russians in 1941. The family spent 4 years in a Deportation Camp in  Germany. Ettie was born in a displaced persons camp in 1949 and the  family in 1950 immigrated to Brooklyn, NY USA. She grew up with her two  younger sisters and was educated in New York City and got 2 master  degrees at Penn State in Pennsylvania, USA. Ettie then immigrated to  Israel and received her Doctorate in Cross-Cultural Childhood Learning.  after After retiring from a career in education, Ettie then became  Director of six International Schools covering six countries.  

Ettie,  currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona USA with her husband  Jacob. She is a Board member for the Phoenix Holocaust Association and  devotes much time to giving presentations to youth and adults worldwide.  Ettie and Jacob have three children including a set of twins. They have  3 grandchildren.  

A Holocaust Memoir of Love & Resilience: Mama's Survival from  Lithuania to America  With the Nazi occupation of Kovno (Lithuania), Zlata Santocki Sidrer   life changed forever. Zlata was Jewish, but she survived the horrors of  the Holocaust. Gone was her normal life and her teenage dream of  becoming a doctor. Instead, she witnessed untold deprivations,  massacres, imprisonment, hunger and slave labor before being transported  to the Stutthof Concentration Camp. Her story of the death march is a  testament to her fighting spirit and the limits of human endurance. Yet  the challenges did not end with liberation.  

Lovingly compiled from recorded interviews and researched by her eldest  daughter, Ettie, this is an account of a remarkably resilient woman who  raised herself out of the ashes after unimaginable hardship and sorrow.  She found love and happiness where none could be expected—a secret  marriage in the ghetto, escapes, dangerous border crossings,  reunification, and life-saving friendships.   Ettie’s quest to learn more about her ancestry led her to Lithuania and  Poland–in her mother’s footsteps. The author reflects on the impact of  her family’s experiences on her own beliefs and behaviors, thereby  adding to the literature about Second Generation and transgenerational  trauma. In these memoirs she honors her family by telling their amazing  story of survival and collects evidence to corroborate their painful  history.

Second Generation Steven Russek Survivor speaks about his Survivor Parent's 1 2 Episodes 6 8 2022

The Obligations Of Memory Podcast Network L'Dor V'Dor Interview Series  Randi Maggid was raised in Beverly Hills, California, the youngest child of Holocaust survivors. 

My mother's greatest gift to me was her positive outlook in difficult and trying times —something that's helped me throughout my life.  After attending UC Santa Barbara, I received my BA in Journalism from the University of Southern California and a Master of Science Management degree from Boston University. I was an Art Director in Los Angeles and Chicago, owned an art and frame Gallery in Israel, and worked in public relations before marrying and having a family.  Like Alix, the main character in my memoir, Beverly Hills Concentration Camp, I had a life altering experience. One day in 2008, while driving to visit my mother, I turned my head to the left and heard a noise in my head. 

I thought nothing more about it, until I woke up the next day unable to move. Doctors told me I'd never be able to use my left arm again unless I had surgery within a week to place metal disks in my neck. But something inside told me I was supposed to go in a different direction. 

The direction I chose — alternative healing — would forever change my life. My personal healing journey, working through all the layers of trauma and disappointment, taught me many tools I still use in my life today.  I began training as a healer and Shaman and discovered that healing others not only helped me heal but came naturally. I now believe I went through all that distress because I was meant to help others get through their own challenges. Today I continue to expand my skills as a Healer, while continuing to help others dive deep into extraordinary energy, joy and wellness.I live in Los Angeles with my husband and two children.   The interview was conducted on August 11, 2022 for the Obligations Of Memory Podcast Network by Jeffery Giesener - Founder of the Jewish Culture and Holocaust Remembrance Group on Facebook/YouTube Video Channel /Spotify/Amazon/Apple/YouTube and Google Podcasts.   

Episode 1  

If you have a story that touches the Shoah and you would like to be considered for an interview, write a short synopsis of your story and email it to jeffgthebaker@gmail.com for consideration.