ABOUT

What was the Holocaust?

The Holocaust was the systemic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews and others by the Nazi regime during World War II. The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in 1933, believed that Germans were “racially superior” and that the Jews, deemed “inferior”, were a threat. The Nazis also targeted and murdered other groups of people based on their perceived racial and biological inferiority.

Mission

Our mission is to create a comprehensive resource center in the San Francisco East Bay area to educate people of all faiths about the Holocaust and honor its victims.

Background

Past Programs

Chabad is a philosophy, a movement, and an organization.

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Since being founded as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation in Pleasanton, CA on January 8, 2021, the East Bay Holocaust Education Center has sponsored over 20 Holocaust education events, many of them free to the public.

During its first year of operation (2021), these programs included:

Free online teacher training for high school teachers.
Free online Holocaust exhibit for high school students and teachers.
Two free online Holocaust films for high school students including The Crossing and Inside Hana’s Suitcase in collaboration with the East Bay Jewish International Film Festival.
Student Holocaust Art and Writing Contest with $3,500 in prize money.
Streamed version of the one-woman Holocaust-based Shakespeare and the Alchemy of Gender featuring Lisa Wolpe.
Free Holocaust talk on the Kindertransport given by Linda Waldroup, who talked about her mother’s experiences on the Kindertransport.
Live and streamed stage-reading of Diane Samuel’s Kindertransport play in collaboration with Shakespeare’s Performing Arts Regional Company
Free online Read to Remember adult reading group, some with the author’s participation
Two Holocaust adult education courses including Beyond Never Again and Outsmarting Antisemitism in collaboration with Chabad of Tri-Valley

During its second year of operation (2022), EBHEC sponsored the following programs:

In-person Holocaust Exhibit at the Firehouse Theater in Pleasanton
In-person Holocaust Exhibit at the Alcosta Senior and Community Center in San Ramon
Free talk and book signing by author Henry Michalski of his book Torn Lilacs, which is about his family’s Holocaust experiences and subsequent imprisonment in Stalin’s gulags
Resuming in-person Holocaust exhibits at East Bay high schools
Two free in-person Holocaust films for high school students including When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and Persian Lessons in collaboration with the East Bay Jewish International Film Festival.
During the latter half of 2022, EBHEC will be focusing on preparations and planning for Violins of Hope East Bay 2023, planned for January and February 2023.

During its third year of operation (2023), EBHEC sponsored the following programs:

Violins of Hope East Bay 2023. From Jan to Mar 2023, EBHEC hosted Violins of Hope East Bay, which had approximately 17,800 attendees at 60 events including:
● 3 concerts at Bankhead on February 5-7 (1,400 people)
● 13 days of free exhibit at the Bankhead (1,700 people)
● 47 free school concerts from Jan 31 – March 3 attended by 13,500 students and teachers
● 3 free lectures at the Bankhead (100 people).
● 4 mini-concerts in Feb in Cupertino, San Mateo, Roseville and Vacaville (800 attendees)
● 2 Holocaust films presented with EBJIFF in Mar attended by 300 people.

During its fourth year of operation (2024), EBHEC sponsored the following programs:

Music of the Holocaust school program, which provided 34 free educational concerts and workshops to over 8,500 students in the East Bay.
Music of the Holocaust and Touring exhibit adult program at Temple Beth Torah (Fremont).
Sponsored Holocaust Survivor Band Kristallnacht concert at Chabad Tri-Valley (Pleasanton).
Continued Read to Remember adult program.

During its fifth year of operation (2025), EBHEC sponsored the following programs:

Music of the Holocaust adult program to several organizations including -
Yom HaShoah Commemoration event at 3 Oakland synagogues.
Student Holocaust film at the Vine Cinema (Livermore) in partnership with the East Bay Jewish International Film Festival.
Continued Read to Remember adult program.
Holocaust Talk and Book signing (Congregation Beth Emek, Pleasanton)
During the latter half of 2025, EBHEC will be focusing on preparations and planning for Violins of Hope East Bay 2026, planned for October to November 2026