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GenShoah Presents…
Programs to Inform, Engage, and Bring Friends Together
By Ida Margolis and Shelly Lieb
Avariety of programs are being presented this season for members and the community. We hope you will find programs that will inform and engage you, and that you will come to see old friends and meet new ones. Please mark your calendars, rsvp, and note the locations of the events.
Beginning the season is “Movies that Matter,” the human rights film series held in memory of Steve Brazina. Presented at the Museum on Thursdays, Oct. 23, 30, and Nov. 6 at 2 p.m., with expert panel discussions to follow. RSVPs are required: hmcec.org. For film titles and descriptions see page 2A.
Catholic-Jewish Dialogue presents the annual Kristallnacht Commemoration on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2:30 p.m. at Temple Shalom. RSVP is requested at jewishnaples.org. More information about this program is on page 16.
The GenShoah book group, “Readers & Learners,” will discuss the powerful story, Life in a Jar by Jack Mayer. Facilitator 2G Estelle Kafer welcomes all interested in the story of Irena Sendler, the Catholic rescuer of Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto.
The discussion will be at the Museum on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 11 a.m., in coordination with the exhibition "Painting Irena Sendler's Story" by Bill Farnsworth. RSVPs are required: hmcec.org.
The GenShoah Member Brunch Potluck, is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 21, at 11 a.m. at a private residence. We will review the book Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine. RSVPs are required: email liebro@gmail.com. This is an opportunity to come together in an informal setting. No need to read the book to appreciate the book talk by Linda Denning.
An Open House/New Member Reception for all GenShoah members/Survivors will take place at the Museum on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, at 10 a.m. and will include a presentation of "They Were Children: Rescue as Resistance" by Emily Murray. RSVPs are required: hmcec.org.
A special event to recognize GenShoah at Beth Tikvah of Naples will include Erin Blankenship, President and CEO of the Holocaust Museum. She will present her experience creating Dimensions in Testimony interviews on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, at 7 p.m. Hear Erin relate her experience with the USC Shoah Foundation project that enables people to ask questions that prompt real-time responses from prerecorded video interviews with Holocaust Survivors and other witnesses to genocide. RSVPs are required: email office@bethtikvah.us.
The annual Genealogy Workshop will be presented by Hank Bitterman on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, 1 p.m. at a private residence. RSVPs are required: liebro@gmail.com.
"Our Stories" GenShoah Member GetTogether provides an opportunity to talk with Survivors and descendants about themselves and their family experiences. The tentative date is March 1, 2026, at 1 p.m. at a private residence. RSVPs are required: liebro@gmail.com.
Generations After of the Federation of Sarasota-Manatee have invited our members to a special program in Sarasota on Sunday, March 8, 2026, at 1 p.m. Details to follow. GenShoah Readers & Learners Book Discussion of Sabine's Odyssey by Agnes Schipper, will take place Thursday, March 12, 2026, at 11 a.m. at Beth Tikvah. RSVPs are required at office@bethtikvah.us. Sabine's Odyssey is a memoir written by Agnes in honor of her mother's life during WW II and of her father, a member of the Dutch Resistance. Agnes retells the story of her mother's struggles.
Author Agnes Schipper will appear Wednesday, March 18, at 2 p.m. at the Holocaust Museum. RSVPs are required at hmcec.org. Agnes, raised as a Catholic, first learned about her mother's hidden Jewish ancestry when she was 20.
Our community Yom HaShoah Commemoration, a Program of Holocaust Remembrance, will be held Sunday, April 12, 2026, 11 a.m. at Temple Shalom, Naples. RSVP at jewishnaples.org. A post-event reception will take place at 12 pm.
It is with great sadness that GenShoah SWFL learned of the passing of Amy Snyder, former Education Director and Executive Director of the Holocaust Museum of SWFL. Amy was a great supporter of GenShoah and its programs. She had a special place in her heart for our local Survivors, and her smile warmed the hearts of all who knew her.
