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ABOUT
VIDEOS
PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS



THIS IS OUR HOLOCAUST STORY.

About the Campaign


HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS LAUNCH YEAR-LONG DIGITAL CAMPAIGN –
OUR HOLOCAUST STORY – SHARING STORIES OF SURVIVAL THAT MADE THEIR FAMILIES
POSSIBLE – ON HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY


PARTNERING WITH SECOND AND THIRD GENERATION FAMILY MEMBERS, THE
#OURHOLOCAUSTSTORY CAMPAIGN ILLUSTRATES THE IMPORTANCE OF PASSING ON HOLOCAUST
SURVIVOR TESTIMONY; AS FAMILIES MAKE A PLEDGE TO REMEMBER; MORE THAN 100
HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS AND THEIR FAMILIES ARE PARTICIPATING.

April 18, 2023—The Claims Conference today announced the launch of a new digital
campaign, Our Holocaust Story: A Pledge to Remember. The campaign features
Holocaust survivors from across the United States and around the world with
their second and third generation family members. The campaign illustrates the
importance of passing on the stories of the Holocaust so future generations can
learn from past atrocities.

Gideon Taylor, President of the Claims Conference, said, “Each survivor has a
poignant and unique story to tell of survival. By passing these stories on
within their family, they make certain their story continues and the lessons of
the Holocaust are not forgotten. Collectively, these stories tell the history of
the Shoah, a history we must preserve and share. Only then can we truly say,
‘never again.’”

Our Holocaust Story features short videos of Holocaust survivors and family
members sharing personal testimonies of persecution and survival. In closing,
family members make a pledge to remember, ensuring these stories continue. The
campaign demonstrates the importance of passing on survivor testimonies. Many
survivors do not have children and even for those who do, the awesome weight of
carrying this testimony can be and should be shared.

This campaign reaches beyond survivors and their families – this serves as a
moment in time when each of us can take on the extraordinary responsibility of
keeping individual stories alive and guaranteeing future generations learn about
and understand the lessons of the Holocaust.

Greg Schneider, Executive Vice President of the Claims Conference, said, “When
we see a Holocaust survivor with their family members, it sends a powerful
message – they didn’t just survive the Holocaust, they went on to live, to build
a family, a family that would not exist if they had not survived. Each survivor
has a profound impact on the world, and it is our responsibility to carry
forward the torch of their testimony. We should all make a pledge to remember.”

Over 100 Holocaust survivors and their families are participating in the
campaign, all of whom will be featured in posts across the Claims Conference’s
social media platforms every week throughout the year.

Survivor stories will be shared on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok,
using the hashtag #OurHolocaustStory. The Claims Conference will permanently
house all videos and additional content here on the campaign website.

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Stories of Resilience

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JOIN US AND PLEDGE TO REMEMBER

Partnering With Second and Third Generation Family Members, The
#OurHolocaustStory Campaign Illustrates The Importance Of Passing On Holocaust
Survivor Testimony; As Families Make A Pledge To Remember; More Than 100
Holocaust Survivors And Their Families Are Participating. Please like and share
the campaign on social media:

 * Facebook
 * Twitter
 * Instagram
 * TikTok


THE LINDENBLATT BROTHERS

Jehuda, George and Robert Lindenblatt, three Holocaust survivor brothers from
Hungary all living in New York, came together with their families to create a
video for the campaign.


ASSIA GORBAN

Assia Gorban, a Holocaust survivor in Germany, created a video for the campaign
with her granddaughter, Ruth Gorban, who said to her grandmother during the
recording, “I promise you that I will tell your story as well as possible so
that it lives on with all of you.”


ERNIE FRIEDLANDER AND HIS SON DAVID

Ernie Friedlander, a Holocaust survivor born in Austria, currently living in
Australia, shared his story with his son David Friedlander, saying, “…if not for
one decent human being who cared, I probably wouldn’t be alive today.”


PETER KENEDI

Peter Kenedi, tells his story of surviving the horrors of the Holocaust as a
young child in Budapest. With him are his two grandsons Eduard and Edgar.


SHRAGA MILSTEIN

Shraga shared his story, saying, “In 1943, the ghetto was closed in Piotrkow, my
hometown, and we were transferred to the Buchenwald camp. In 1945 when I was
liberated from the Bergen-Belsen camp I was 12 years old. My parents had
perished.”


SONIA KLEIN

Sonia Klein, a Holocaust survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto and Auschwitz in Poland,
recorded a video with her son, Alan Klein, and her grandson, Jordan Mello-Klein.


GINGER LANE AND HER DAUGHTER BETH

Ginger was born in Germany and her mother was murdered. She describes surviving
in hiding as a child.

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Participating Organizations

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3GNY

3GNY is a nonprofit founded by third generation (3G)
descendents of Holocaust survivors dedicated to educating diverse communities
about the perils of intolerance and providing a supportive and educational
forum. 3GNY’s hallmark We Educate (WEDU) program trains 3G volunteers to
compellingly share their grandparents’ stories in school and community settings
throughout New York City and around the world. As the population of survivors
wanes, it is more important than ever that 3Gs act as a living link to this
history and carry forward the lessons of the past to ensure that we “Never
Forget.”

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3G Philly

As the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, we honor our grandparents through
education and advocacy.  We have the unique opportunity and responsibility to
carry forward our family legacy to ensure that we uphold the promise of “Never
Again” by educating our communities and future generations.

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American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants

Today more than ever we must be resilient and vigilant and not permit the
tragedy of the Shoah to be denied, diminished, or desecrated.  Our
martyrs continue their silent call to us all to carry their memory in our
hearts. We must continue to remember and not to forget the ultimate consequences
of intolerance, injustice, and inhumanity. We must continue to transmit the
legacy of the Shoah as a sacred legacy and call to action to our children,
grandchildren, and for all humanity.

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American Jewish Committee

This year an unprecedented number of countries and international organizations
will pause to commemorate the Holocaust. They will do so on International
Holocaust Commemoration Day, on Yom HaShoah, or on dates of significance special
to the country’s own history. This is due in no small measure to the tireless
efforts of the survivors themselves to ensure that what they witnessed will
never be forgotten. And yet our own studies and surveys tell us that Holocaust
knowledge is declining, and antisemitism is increasing. But this is not cause
for despair. Instead, it is reason to redouble our efforts to help lead the
global fight to combat antisemitism and to build a proud and resilient Jewish
people in America and throughout the Diaspora.
—AJC CEO Ted Deutch

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American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)

It has never been more critical to center the story of Holocaust survivors—their
resilience, their pain, and their bravery in rebuilding lives after such
devastating loss and working tirelessly to create a better tomorrow. From such
lessons, we draw the fortitude and wisdom we need to shape a future that is
inspired by survivors’ commitment to their fellow Jews in need, to robust Jewish
life, and to repairing a broken world for many generations to come.
—Ariel Zwang, CEO of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)

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Anne Frank House Amsterdam

We wholeheartedly support the Claims Conference initiative. The personal stories
of people who experienced the persecution of the Jews, victims and survivors,
are all impressive. They bear witness to the horrors of the Holocaust and make
us realize that living in freedom in a democracy is a precious commodity.
—Ronald Leopold, Executive Director, Anne Frank House

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Anne Frank Zentrum Berlin

Anne Franks Tagebuch zeigt uns, dass Worte eine Überlebensstrategie sein können.
Wie sehr Worte aber auch verletzen, zeigt die Geschichte von Anne Frank ebenso
wie die Geschichte tausender anderer jüdischer Kinder im Nationalsozialismus,
bei denen die Ausgrenzung mit Worten begann und bei viel zu vielen in Verfolgung
und Tod endete.

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Association of Jewish Refugees

As living memory of the Holocaust recedes and we grapple with its legacy, the
collection of Holocaust testimony becomes even more critical. Both to honour
those who perished, but also to combat rising Holocaust distortion and
antisemitism. The importance of capturing and disseminating eye-witness accounts
is one of the topics that will be discussed at The Association of Jewish
Refugees International forum on Holocaust testimony, at Lancaster House, next
month. To join us please book your tickets here.”

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Auswärtiges Amt  

Je mehr wir erfahren, je mehr Zeitzeugen und ihre Nachfahren uns ihre
Lebensgeschichten und ihre Erfahrungen anvertrauen, je mehr können wir
begreifen, was damals geschehen ist. Durch unsere Erinnerung und unser Gedenken
ehren wir die Opfer, durch unser Zuhören die Überlebenden, durch unsere Fragen
die von den Nazis verfolgten Menschen und deren Nachfahren. Wir dürfen nicht
vergessen. Erinnern zu ermöglichen, ist zutiefst Ausdruck von Humanität. Es
entspricht auch unserer ureigenen staatlichen, politischen und
gesellschaftlichen Verantwortung für Gegenwart und Zukunft. 
—Herrn Dr. Klinke

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B’nai B’rith

The need to embrace Holocaust education, in its many forms, has never been more
urgent than now.

As we near a time when there will be no survivors to bear witness to the
barbarity of the crimes committed by the Nazis and their collaborators, it is
our responsibility—our obligation—to convey and to teach about the horrors they
experienced.

Whether through personal accounts and testimonies, Holocaust education programs
in public schools and universities, the latest technologies available to
museums, through social media, or documentaries and motion pictures, or reading
the names of the victims of Nazi savagery, we must ensure the world never
forgets the genocide carried out against the Jews in Europe.

The passage of time dims memory. That is our greatest challenge, and all of us
must rise up to meet it.

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Casip-Cojasor

Nous vivons à une époque qui voit croitre les théories du complot, les remises
en question de faits historiques, la propagation de « fake News » grâce aux
réseaux sociaux. Face à cette désinformation la parole des témoins est
essentielle. La parole de ces témoins doit pouvoir être transmises aux jeunes
générations, afin qu’eux-mêmes portent la parole des survivants qui ne seront
plus là pour dire l’horreur de la Shoah et empêcher que des crimes contre
l’Humanité ne se reproduisent.

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Center Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel

In Jewish tradition, the command to remember is absolute. On Passover night, we
read: “In every generation, every individual must feel as if he had come out of
Egypt personally.”
In every generation, we will continue to remember the Holocaust. But the
fundamental lesson of Judaism is that memory must be accompanied by action of
ethical and moral intent. Our sacred duty is to pass on not only the memory of
the six million but also the lessons of the Holocaust: the sanctity of human
life, the humane values of human rights, tolerance, democracy, and opposition to
racism.

—Colette Avital, Chairperson, Center Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in
Israel

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Council of Jews From Germany

As each generation revisits the past it becomes clear that the horrors of the
Holocaust are not fixed in time. Each generation brings a new perspective to the
crimes committed and must find a new determination to fight the antisemitism
that continues to haunt us. For children of German Jewish victims and survivors
the task is no less difficult, despite Germany’s extraordinary efforts to
provide reparations and restitution to all claimants. The ongoing challenge is
stand up against hate – not just against Jews but against bigotry and racism and
discrimination wherever it manifests itself. The Holocaust has taught us that
hatred often begins with the Jews, but rarely ends there. Our legacy is to
remain vigilant.

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Descendants of Holocaust Survivors

We are living in an era of storytelling. The verve with which descendants of
Holocaust survivors are telling their family history will sustain generations to
come, for they are essential instruments for validation and reparation, and to
remind future generations of both man’s inhumanity and the resilience of the
human spirit to go on despite adversity.

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Durban Holocaust and Genocide Centre

I believe the greatest gift one can give Holocaust survivors is to reassure them
that their stories will be held close by future generations and shared with
generations to come. To ensure the legacy of the Holocaust is safely entrusted
with future generations is our enormous responsibility but also an extraordinary
gift.

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European Jewish Congress

“80 years on, the survivors continue as witnesses to a living memory of the
Shoah. For this memory to pass on through society it is essential that their
testimonies become an enduring lesson of history. Here lies the key role of
young people to mark on the consciences of their peers and future generations
the murder of six million Jews. To ensure that the hate and antisemitism which
caused this crime can never happen again.”
—Ariel Muzicant, EJC President

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Executive Council of Australian Jewry

Within the anguished phase of history that is the Holocaust, we find the
clearest displays of hatred, cowardice, heroism and devotion ever observed and
recorded. And so, here we find the purest revelations of what is means to be
human. This is what makes the study and remembrance of the Holocaust,
essential. 

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Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against
Antisemitism

 „Our Holocaust Story“ trägt als erste gemeinsame Kampagne mit Überlebenden und
Vertretern und Vertreterinnen der 2. und 3. Generation dazu bei, eine lebendige,
von Empathie getragene Erinnerungskultur zu entwickeln, die nicht in Formeln und
Ritualen erstarrt. Denn es braucht eine Erinnerungskultur, die es schafft, den
wachsenden zeitlichen Abstand zur Zeit des Nationalsozialismus zu überbrücken
und gleichzeitig junge Menschen anzusprechen. „Our Holocaust Story“ wird diesem
Anspruch in höchstem Maße gerecht! 
—Dr. Felix Klein, Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and
the Fight against Antisemitism

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Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah

Nous avons la chance d’avoir eu comme première présidente Simone Veil,
survivante d’Auschwitz-Birkenau et devenue une des plus importantes femmes
politiques en France et en Europe.  « La Shoah est notre mémoire mais votre
héritage » disait-elle, et depuis la création de notre institution, la
transmission de la mémoire autant que de l’histoire est au cœur de nos missions.

Dès notre création, nous avons ainsi initié une collection de témoignages
d’anciens déportés qui compte aujourd’hui plus d’une centaine d’ouvrages. En 20
ans, nous avons soutenu de nombreux projets qui favorisent la transmission aux
jeunes générations, que ce soit par des livres, des films, des expositions ou
des voyages sur les lieux de mémoire de la Shoah.

La parole des déportés est irremplaçable, et grâce aux innovations
technologiques et muséographiques de notre époque, nous nous assurons qu’elle
sera encore entendue, aujourd’hui et demain, quand les derniers témoins auront
disparu.

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Galicia Jewish Museum

Remembering the crimes of the Nazis and their helpers from all over Europe has
never been more important than it is today. Last victims and eye-witnesses are
passing away and soon there will be no one who could say: I was there. I have
seen it. I survived. Losing their guidance, their moral strength, their company,
we will find ourselves on an uncharted seas. In a world in which the main threat
is not only denial of the Holocaust, but increasingly often, its trivialization
and usage as a tool by politicians and leaders across the globe. War in Ukraine,
waged by the Russians under the cynic and deceitful banner of denazification
­­is a stark and horrific example of that. But this war is also a reminder that
lack of education, free speech, tolerance and democracy always ends with pain,
suffering and destruction. The lessons of the Holocaust can help us to prevent
this from happening.

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Gedenk- und Bildungsstätte Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz 

“Die Überlebenden der Shoah, ihre Erinnerungen und Erfahrungen, sind und bleiben
im Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz gegenwärtig. Ihre Geschichten sind prägend für uns
und unsere Besucherinnen. Wir sammeln Berichte und Zeugnisse und machen diese in
unserer Bibliothek zugänglich. Ihre Familien, Nachfahrinnen der zweiten, dritten
und vierten Generation, teilen ihre Biographien mit uns und bringen sich aktiv
in die Arbeit unseres Hauses ein. Dort, wo einst die ‚Endlösung der Judenfrage‘
besprochen wurde, sind heute die Stimmen und Geschichten der Überlebenden und
der Ermordeten laut und deutlich zu vernehmen. Ihr Vermächtnis ist unser
Auftrag, auch in Zukunft gegen die Leugnung, Verharmlosung und Verfälschung der
Geschichte der Shoah, für eine aktive und lebendige Erinnerungskultur und gegen
jede Form von Rassismus, Antisemitismus und Ausgrenzung einzutreten.“ 
—Deborah Hartmann, Gedenk- und Bildungsstätte Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz

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Holocaust Education Resource Center

HERC will always champion Holocaust education. We do this because the
consequences of hate are universal. It’s our responsibility as global citizens
to educate future generations how to stand up and act against prejudice. “For
me, she [Holocaust survivor, Edie Pump] is like an inspiration, because she
didn’t let herself fall and she kept moving forward…She is a really good person.
You need people like Edie in your life to learn, and for me, she is one of those
people.”  – Feedback from 6th grade student in Wisconsin after participating in
a HERC program.

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Holocaust Educational Trust

Since our founding, the testimony of Holocaust survivors has been at the very
heart of our work. Today, in schools and colleges up and down the country,
survivors share their stories. Students listen enthralled, and we know that this
will be something that they never forget. But sadly, we know that the Holocaust
is slowly fadinwg from living memory and soon there will be no one left who can
say ‘I was there’. While this generation may be the last to stand shoulder to
shoulder with survivors, they must not be allowed to be the last to learn about
the 6 million men, women and children who were murdered. The names and stories
of those who survived – and their families who did not – must not fade away. We
will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the students of tomorrow will
always have opportunities to learn about the past, to consider its legacy, and
to carry its lessons with them for the rest of their lives.

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Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center

We’re challenged to teach the many lessons learned from the Holocaust.  Current
and future generations need to understand the Holocaust and how the roles of the
perpetrator, the  bystander, the rescuer, and the victim played a part.  Today,
we must listen and watch carefully. The most important thing we can do when and
if we are witness to an antisemitic action is to speak up and speak out, and
teach the younger generation to do the same. Let us work together towards a time
when Never Again becomes a reality.

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Holocaust Museum Houston

Holocaust Museum Houston was founded in 1996 by Holocaust Survivors, 2nd
Generation and community members dedicated to educating students and the public
about the dangers of prejudice and hate in society. Our mission remains just as
vital as it was then, possibly even more so. The Museum is honored by the
continued collaboration from Survivors, “2Gs,” “3Gs” and even “4Gs.” Support
from future generations is essential to building a more humane society by
promoting responsible individual behavior, cultivating civility and pursuing
social justice.

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The Holocaust, Their Family, Me and Us

“Passing on the experiences of Holocaust survivors to future generations
safeguards the lessons of the Holocaust in our collective memory. The lessons
that survivors pass onto us – of acceptance, inclusion, and the power of being
an upstander – are paramount to preventing the atrocities they were subjected to
from ever being repeated.”

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Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center

Preserving and sharing the stories of Holocaust Survivors is the heart of
Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center’s work. As we move further away
from the 20th century and lose the opportunity for Survivors to speak directly
about what happened to them, the Museum looks to their children and
grandchildren to continue this important project. Illinois Holocaust Museum
works directly with “2Gs” and “3Gs” to ensure they carry on their family’s
legacy and continue to remember the past so that everyone can learn from them
and transform the future. This work is personal to each of our partners, and the
Museum is honored to help support them. 

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International Auschwitz Committee

 “Ich habe gerade den letzten Band einer Trilogie mit Erzählungen über die
Erinnerungen von Auschwitz-Überlebenden abgeschlossen. Der Band trägt den Titel
“Als wir die Maikäfer waren” und die letzten Sätze in meinem Nachwort lauten:
“Ich danke allen Überlebenden, die mir die Tür zu ihren Erinnerungen und
Gefühlen geöffnet haben. Die Schmerzen, die ihnen allen geblieben sind, habe ich
immer nur erahnen können und doch manchmal gemerkt, wie reißend und auch
bedrohlich die Ströme der Erinnerungen sein können, die sie in jeder Stunde
ihres Lebens umtosen. Ihr Lächeln, ihre Tapferkeit und ihr Interesse an der
Zukunft der jungen Menschen bleibt für immer eine Herausforderung, sie und ihre
Erinnerungen nicht loszulassen, damit wir nicht stürzen.”

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International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance

“As the last witnesses of the Holocaust leave us, the whole world must decide
what the future of global Holocaust remembrance will look like without them. We
need to ensure that the Holocaust is not left only to books, films, archives and
museums, but instead to preserve the living memory of the darkest period of
history in order to prevent genocide and mass crimes. It is our responsibility
to ensure that these stories, and the survivors who went to great lengths to
share them with us, are never forgotten.”
—IHRA Co-Chairs Terezija Gras and Sara Lustig

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> The Jewish Agency for Israel
> 
> The shared fate between world Jewry and the State of Israel is molded by the
> spirit of dedication of those who gave their lives in Israel’s wars and also
> by the terrible sacrifice of the victims of terrorism and antisemitism around
> the world.
> 
> The spirit of the fallen and the murdered is a source of inspiration among our
> people for continued acts of mutual responsibility and love of humanity. A
> spirit that sanctifies life and action. May the mourners of Zion find comfort.
> Carrying on out of a commitment to continue the lives that were forced to end.
> A spirit that connects in the deepest way between Jews in all corners of the
> world.
> 
> The State of Israel was founded and built thanks to this partnership, thanks
> to the devotion and unconditional love.
> 
> This is our commitment — to continue together, to remember what unites us, to
> bring hearts together and magnify love.
> —Maj. General (res.) Doron Almog, Chairman of the Executive, The Jewish Agency
> for Israel

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Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA)

Holocaust Survivors and their families inspire us every day with their
resilience and commitment to building a better humanity. It is our privilege to
support thousands of Holocaust survivors and their family caregivers through our
Center on Holocaust Survivor Care and Institute on Aging and Trauma. Survivors’
legacy of compassion and kindness will overcome the hatred of those who
perpetrate antisemitism and prejudice. We are proud to learn from our survivor
families and work to help them live in comfort and dignity.

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Jüdisches Museum Berlin

„Wir verdanken den jüdischen Zeitzeug*innen Erinnerungen und Erkenntnisse, ohne
die das Ausmaß und die schrecklichen Details der Verbrechen uns nicht so bekannt
wären, wie sie es sind, und unsere Erinnerungskultur wäre eine andere. Indem die
Überlebenden ihre Geschichte erzählen, machen sie klar, dass sie Menschen mit
einer einzigartigen Geschichte sind – mit Familien, mit Berufen oder ohne, mit
Vorlieben und Abneigungen, mit jeweils eigenen, einzigartigen Gefühlen, Gedanken
und Beziehungen. Ihre Kinder und Enkel kennen zumindest Teile davon, haben
vielleicht Traumata geerbt. Wenn sie ihre Sicht weitergeben, leisten sie einen
Beitrag zur Erinnerung an die Shoah, der unersetzlich ist. Das Jüdische Museum
Berlin zeigt verschiedene jüdische Perspektiven auf die deutsch-jüdische
Geschichte und Gegenwart – und gibt auch diesen Erinnerungen an die Shoah und
der Auseinandersetzung damit Raum.“ 

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The Jewish Museum of Greece

The Jewish Museum of Greece introduced systematic Holocaust Education in our
country, with the creation of the first special educational programs in 2001. As
a historical and ethnographic museum, which is also an officially recognized
Research Center, it utilizes its collections, archival content and digital
resources to transmit through the stories of yesteryear, lessons for today and
tomorrow.  In the 45 years of its existence the Museum uses every accredited
medium at its disposal, including the new technologies, to cultivate
intercultural understanding and respect among people of all religions, cultures
and ethnic backgrounds.

As a third generation Holocaust survivor, I see no stronger way towards civic
engagement and responsibility, than through Holocaust Education and public
Commemoration. I have worked to the utmost of all my abilities and opportunities
to this end, and will continue to do so, for as long as I will be able to.
—Zanet Battinou, Director

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Melbourne Holocaust Museum

“Passing on the experiences of Holocaust survivors to future generations
safeguards the lessons of the Holocaust in our collective memory. The lessons
that survivors pass onto us – of acceptance, inclusion, and the power of being
an upstander – are paramount to preventing the atrocities they were subjected to
from ever being repeated.”

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Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust

Our Museum’s mission is to serve as a place of memory for our diverse community
to learn about Jewish life and heritage before, during, and after the Holocaust.
Survivors, who have shared their first-hand testimonies with our visitors and
school groups, and who have contributed treasured artifacts to the Museum’s
Collection, have played an essential role in bringing that mission to life. We
remain committed to providing a platform for survivors and their descendants to
share their stories and to ensure these accounts live on for generations to
come. We must all do our part to remember, educate, and stand up against hate—in
all its forms.

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OeAD/Erinnern.at

Es hat viele Jahrzehnte gedauert, bis die Überlebenden der Shoah die
Aufmerksamkeit undSichtbarkeit erhalten haben, die ihnen zusteht. Als Zeuginnen
und Zeugen der Verbrechenhaben sie entscheidenden Anteilan der Aufarbeitung des
Holocaust geleistet und tun diesbis heute. Darüber hinaus sind ihre Zeugnisse
ein wesentlicher Bestandteil schulischerBildung zum Nationalsozialismus und
Holocaust geworden und eine dringende Mahnunggegen Antisemitismus und Rassismus.
Der OeAD unterstützt mit seinem Programm_erinnern.at_ im Auftrag des
österreichischen Bildungs-, Wissenschafts-undForschungsministeriums diese
wichtige Erinnerungsarbeit.
—Patrick Siegele, OeAD, Bereichsleiter Holocaust Education

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Selfhelp

Now is the time to bear witness to stories from the last generation of Holocaust
survivors so the history of the Holocaust is never forgotten. Intergenerational
programs, like Selfhelp’s Witness Theater, are critical to preserve and share
their lessons and stories with future generations.  We join the Claims
Conference in supporting Our Holocaust History.

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Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance 

The Museum of Tolerance (MOT), the educational arm of the Simon Wiesenthal
Center (SWC), is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and
promoting tolerance and respect for all people. For over four decades, Holocaust
Survivors have been our witnesses to truth, inspiring us with their lessons of
courage and resilience. Our primary goal is to amplify their voices and preserve
their legacies. To this end, we also actively encourage and support 2Gs and 3Gs
to assume this responsibility for the future.   

As Jonathan, a 3G grandson of Holocaust Survivor, Dr. Raul Artal Mittelmark,
affirms: “It is about memory, about the ways in which the traumas and the hopes
echo across generations.  There is a generational obligation to carry it forward
and share the lessons with folks experiencing other traumas.”

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South Carolina Council on the Holocaust

The South Carolina Council on the Holocaust is committed to providing factual
information to our community, educators and to students.  In our search for
remembrance, we recognize that memory is for us, history is for all others. 

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Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas

»Die Berichte der Überlebenden des Nationalsozialismus machen deutlich, wohin
Antisemitismus und Antiziganismus, Hass, Rassismus und Ausgrenzung führen, wenn
rechtsstaatliche Grundsätze zerstört werden. Jede einzelne Stimme, jedes
Erinnern ist wichtig, damit wir und zukünftige Generationen begreifen, dass
Demokratie tagtäglich erkämpft werden muss, dass die Achtung der Menschenrechte
keine Selbstverständlichkeit ist, dass Minderheiten vor Verfolgung und Willkür
geschützt werden müssen, – durch Staaten, durch jeden Einzelnen.« 
—Uwe Neumärker, Direktor, Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas

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The Sydney Jewish Museum

The Holocaust didn’t start with violence; it started with words and symbols.
This is an important reminder of the danger that all acts of racism, hate and
discrimination pose, no matter what size. It also highlights how critical it is
for future generations to learn to speak up against hate in all its forms. The
Sydney Jewish Museum educates young people – our future global citizens – with
Holocaust survivors’ messages about the importance of kindness and humanity, and
empowers them to make a stand against human rights issues facing our society
today. Right now, we’re utilising cutting-edge AI technology to ensure visitors
of the future can continue to have meaningful interactions with survivors and
their messages – even when the sad time comes that survivors are no longer able
to share their stories in person.

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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

For Holocaust survivors their families represent their ultimate triumph over
Nazi Germany and its collaborators who sought to erase a people and a culture.
The survivors— with defiance, determination and pride — have built a future for
themselves and the Jewish community through their children, grandchildren, and
future generations. They have done this while also preserving and sharing their
memories. Now, as the Holocaust recedes in time, all of us must urgently commit
ourselves to carrying memory into the future. This is our responsibility not
just that of the descendants of those who survived. While the perpetrators
attempted to eliminate the Jewish people, the Holocaust’s lessons – lessons
about the dangers of unchecked antisemitism and other forms of group-targeted
hate – resonate for all of humanity. As Elie Wiesel often said, no one’s future
should be like his past. 
—Sara J. Bloomfield, Director

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United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn

The Williamsburg Jewish community is a neighborhood where Holocaust Survivors
resettled after WWII with nothing more than their unbreakable Jewish faith and
an iron will to rebuild everything that was ripped away from them by the Nazis.
Williamsburg is blessed to be home to many Holocaust Survivors and our Holocaust
survivors see it as their duty to carry the memories and traditions of their
European Jewish communities that were destroyed by passing them on to the second
and third generations of their descendants.

The Claims Conference’s “Our Holocaust Story: A pledge to remember” is so
crucial to carrying the legacy of our cherished and beloved Holocaust Survivors
and we are privileged to participate.
—Rabbi David Niederman, President of the United Jewish Organizations of
Williamsburg and North Brooklyn.

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University College London Centre for Holocaust Education

Research by the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education with students and teachers
has shown the power of hearing a Holocaust survivor share their story:

“I found that listening to Zigi Shipper – a survivor of the Holocaust, the most
amazing thing to hear. It really deepened my understanding and knowledge, and it
seemed so much more real for me. He was so genuine, and I developed a massive
amount of empathy after hearing him.” —14-year-old student, South Yorkshire, UK

For decades, young people have benefitted hugely from the powerful experience of
hearing a survivor speak. This cannot be lost. It is imperative that we collect
and protect the testimonies of the survivors and their families, so young people
can continue to learn from them. At the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education, we
are committed to educating young people about the Holocaust and its contemporary
significance. Drawing on survivor testimony is a critical element of our
education programme. In our age of division and polarity, of misinformation and
mistrust, never has the testimony of survivors been more important.

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UNESCO

UNESCO believes that education about the Holocaust is at the cornerstone of any
lasting effort to fight antisemitism, racism and conspiracy theories. We honor
the victims and survivors of the Shoah by keeping their stories alive and
teaching our children to cherish and protect human dignity. By passing on this
knowledge to future generations, we equip our youth with awareness, empathy, and
resilience to combat hatred, discrimination, and intolerance. Let us remember,
educate, and unite to ensure the lessons of the Holocaust are never forgotten.
—Director-General, Ms Audrey Azoulay

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USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Culture



USC Shoah Foundation currently has more than 52,000 video testimonies that
contain a complete personal history of life before, during, and after the
interviewee’s firsthand experience with the Holocaust. These testimonies are
preserved in the Visual History Archive—one of the largest digital collections
of its kind in the world—and form the basis of education and research programs
that reach millions around the world every year. Our work in bringing the
authentic voices of survivors to scholars, to students, and to professional
audiences helps minimize Holocaust denial and distortion and ensures that we can
learn directly from those have suffered through some of the worst atrocities in
history.

We pledge to never forget #OurHolocaustStory

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Wiener Wiesenthal Institut für Holocaust-Forschung 

Als Historiker war ich es lange Zeit gewohnt, mir mein Bild über die
Vergangenheit nur aus Dokumenten zu machen. In der direkten Begegnung mit
Holocaust-Überlebenden in Israel 2007 habe ich erfahren dürfen, wie sehr ihre
persönlichen Erinnerungen dieses Bild bereicherten. Diese Erinnerungen für die
Zukunft zu bewahren ist eine der wichtigsten Aufgaben unserer Zeit. 

—PD Dr. Jochen Böhler, Direktor 
Wiener Wiesenthal Institut für Holocaust-Forschung

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Westchester Jewish Community Services

We cannot merely say we will never forget the atrocities committed during the
Holocaust. To ensure the world never forgets, we must preserve the testimony of
those who survived the unimaginable. The population of Holocaust survivors is
aging and frail. Every year, fewer survivors remain who were eyewitnesses to the
horrors of the Holocaust. It is our responsibility to carry the stories of
Holocaust survivors l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation so that no one
stays indifferent in the face of hate.

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World Jewish Relief

World Jewish Relief was founded in 1933 and is proud to have rescued 65,000
Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Europe. We will always remember with immense pain
the scale of devastation that befell the Jewish people, and that we were not
able to do even more. We are committed to remembering the past, and are inspired
by the Jewish individuals we helped in the 1930s and 40s who went on to build
successful lives and vibrant families in the UK and overseas. But remembering is
about action, and for us that means providing life-saving and life-changing
action to people in 23 countries experiencing the consequences of conflict and
disaster, both Jewish and not. Our Jewish values and our heritage compel us to
remember that our organization is rooted in the tragedies of the 20th Century,
and equally compel us to act with expertise and urgency in some of world’s
harshest environments today. We join with voices across the community, pledging
to remember.

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Yad Vashem

Last year, I attended the premiere of the film Girl No. 60427 that received the
prestigious Yugo BAFTA Student Award, the equivalent of the Oscar in the UK. The
film is based on the real-life story of how the director discovered her
grandmother’s secret notebook containing terrible memories from Auschwitz.
Having watched the film, I began thinking of the importance of the continuity of
remembrance; of the incredible task passing to the descendants of Holocaust
survivors. I realized that, as the “first” generation, the survivors themselves
often found it too difficult to speak about their horrific wartime experiences,
and wished to focus on rebuilding their lives. The second generation, their
children, growing up in their parents’ sad shadows, were often too afraid to
ask. When the third generation – the survivors’ grandchildren – came along, they
felt “freer” to inquire about their grandparents’ experiences, and the survivors
themselves decided that enough time had passed and they now needed to tell their
story before it was lost forever. Thus, many survivors have passed the so-called
“torch of remembrance” to the third generation.

This incredible mission is found not only on the personal level, but also on
both the national and global stage. In general, awareness of the Shoah and the
desire to know what happened, and most importantly to learn from what happened
is, some would say, amazingly increasing. International Holocaust Remembrance
Day was created in the twenty-first century; despite its chronological proximity
to the event, the UN-sanctioned global day of remembrance didn’t exist in the
twentieth century. IHRA, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, that
brings together more than 35 countries to research the Shoah was also only
established this century, many decades after the end of WWII. International
conferences like the one the Prime Minister of Sweden convened in the racially
charged city of Malmo to speak about Holocaust memory, is a relatively new
phenomenon. These and many other initiatives may be gaining traction only in
recent years, but they are crucial and must be fortified.

The Holocaust, the Shoah, is the most terrible manmade calamity in modern
history, and the events that happened then, as well as the meanings we can glean
from them, must be present in every area of influence – cultural, journalistic,
diplomatic – in today’s fractured and xenophobic society: at the very least,
always in our consciousness.

This is the reason that we at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance
Center, intend to further increase our international presence, in order to make
Shoah remembrance a shared value in every nation. Shoah remembrance and
education is not only for Europe or Jews, but rather a universal mission and a
pledge. Thank you.

—Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan

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Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland

„Gespräche mit Überlebenden der Schoah bestärken die Folgegenerationen darin,
sich für eine bessere Welt einzusetzen. Doch diese Begegnungen sind nicht nur
von unersetzlichem Wert für junge Menschen. Sie zeugen den Jüdinnen und Juden
Respekt, die mit der Last der Erinnerung und Trauer leben müssen. Der Dialog mit
Zeitzeugen fördert eine Kultur der Empathie. Das wird gerade jetzt immer
wichtiger, wenn es heißt, die Deutschen hätten auch ein „Recht zu vergessen“
oder der unsägliche Begriff einer „Holocaust-Kultur“ verwendet wird. Dem stellen
sich Kampagnen wie „Our Holocaust Story“ dezidiert entgegen und können gerade
auf den Sozialen Medien vor allem unter jungen Menschen eine große Reichweite
erzielen. Ich danke der Claims-Conference für diese wichtige Initiative, die
sich gegen das Vergessen und für die Gestaltung einer menschenwürdigen Zukunft
einsetzt.“ 
—Zitat von Herrn Dr. Schuster, Zentralrat

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The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), a
nonprofit organization with offices in New York, Israel and Germany, secures
material compensation for Holocaust survivors around the world. Founded in 1951
by representatives of 23 major international Jewish organizations, the Claims
Conference negotiates for and disburses funds to individuals and organizations
and seeks the return of Jewish property stolen during the Holocaust.
Learn more.

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All content ⒸConference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims
Conference)