Fabian Suske joins HCNC as an AHMS intern, Newsletter Holocaust Center of Northern California

How to Remember? The Holocaust and Storytelling in the 21st Century On April 23rd, Anne Grenn Saldinger, Director of HCNC’s Oral History Project, participated in a panel discussion at the Contemporary Jewish Museum with oral historian Susan Rothenberg and Holocaust survivor Perry Scheinok, a member of HCNC’s Survivors Speakers Bureau. Dan Schiffrin of the CJM moderated the conversation. Dr. Grenn Saldinger began the evening by discussing the vital importance of preservation of memory and testimony through recorded oral histories. She joined the lively panel discussion with Mr. Scheinok and Ms. Rothenberg that followed, which focused on the future of Holocaust education and remembrance. Comments from the audience emphasized the dangers of Holocaust denial when living witnesses are no longer available to share their stories. Holocaust survivors were encouraged to tell their stories, and the evening ended with an appointment with Dr. Grenn Saldinger for an interview with one of the audience members. Fabian Suske joins HCNC as an Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service Intern On January the 26th this year, I left Vienna for San Francisco, to work at the Holocaust Center of California as an alternative to military conscription. The Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service made it possible for me. The AHMS is a unique international network that provides assistance to Holocaust-related archives and museums. The organization was founded by Andreas Maislinger, a political scientist from Innsbruck, Austria who adopted the idea from the German Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (Aktion Suehnezeichen/Friedensdienste). Maislinger had himself worked as a volunteer at the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum, where the idea of the program was born. Since 1992 the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service has sent about 400 AHMS interns, mostly in their early 20s, to study and preserve Holocaust history in lieu of military service back home. I had already learned a lot about those darkest years in Austrian history, but it took a long time until I started to realize the full extent of the genocide. During that process my wish to participate in any program that concerns the Holocaust was born. Somehow I wanted to show that I cared about what happened. Doing this in word and deed seemed to me to be the most reasonable method. It was not easy to get the internship—it is competitive and many others were interested. But now that I’m here—working at the Center and helping HCNC to meet the educational needs of teachers, students and adults in the Bay Area—I am more convinced than ever that it was the right choice, and I am grateful to HCNC for the opportunity to participate in its mission. Helen Lazar z’l The Holocaust Center mourns the loss of Helen Lazar z’l, who passed on May 4, 2009. Helen was a beloved and long-time member of HCNC’s Survivors Speakers Bureau. She spoke to students and community groups bravely and from the heart about her experience during the Holocaust. Helen was born in Czechoslovakia and was deported to Auschwitz in 1943 when she was just 12 years old. She survived the Holocaust with her older sister Toby and eventually settled in San Francisco. Helen said that she spoke to students about her experience during the Holocaust because, “it should be told. The experience made me more understanding of human suffering.” Helen’s profound impact as a Holocaust survivor speaker is immeasurable and she will be missed.