Holocaust Descendants Keep their Family Stories Alive through HRC Speakers Bureau

BY LAUREN BLOOMBERG

The Holocaust Resource Center is proud to support a robust speakers bureau that reaches thousands of students and community members each year. As survivors in our community age and are no longer able to share their personal Holocaust stories, it becomes the responsibility of their descendants to continue telling their family stories, underscoring the bravery, courage, and resilience of their family members. This year, our second- generation descendants (2Gs) have spoken to nearly 10,000 individuals, including students in person and online, as well as presenting to organizations and corporations under their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

HRC descendants gathered in May

Lily Bink, Bill Lin and Wendy Weisbrot are among the 2G’s who have been engaging throughout WNY.

Lily shares the story of her parents, Abraham and Mina Winiger, both survivors from Poland. She describes to students about her parents living in the ghetto with deplorable living conditions and being forced to work as slave laborers. Lily tells of her parents’ courageous escape out of the ghetto and how they survived the Holocaust living in an underground cellar for 18 months.

Bill discusses his parent’s Holocaust stories, also from Poland. He uses a memoir written by his mother to tell his family story from her own words. Bill shares the hardships and courage needed by his parents to survive the atrocities they both experienced.

Wendy is the daughter of local Holocaust survivor Joe Diamond (z”l). For many years, Joe was an active member of the HRC Speaker’s Bureau, connecting to thousands of students by speaking about his life in Eastern Czechoslovakia. Teachers and students continue to remember the impact of Joe’s story in their classrooms and lives. Wendy uses her father’s Holocaust story to share his emotional journey, teaching about the horrors of the Holocaust, while promoting mutual respect, human dignity and tolerance.

Our third-generation descendants (3Gs), grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, are the last living link to our survivors. They are the ones with a special unique relationship to their survivor grandparent. They are relatable to younger generations and are vital to ensuring that their family Holocaust stories are never forgotten. It is because of this that 3G groups are forming in cities all over the country. I was fortunate to participate in 3GNY’s WEDU speaker training program. It was a four-week online course that I attended along with other 3Gs all over the country. I shared the story of my survivor grandfather, Karl Blum. The result of this course is a power point presentation of his story that I can now share in local classrooms and online in classrooms all over the US.

Recently, we had our first meet up of Buffalo 3Gs. Over food and drinks, we shared our grandparents’ stories and our hopes and visions for our 3GBuffalo group. If you or anyone you know is a 3G please have them contact lauren@ buffalojewishfederation.org.

Lauren Bloomberg is Director of the Holocaust Resource Center