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. We also wish to promote a spirit of universal tolerance and peace, using the lessons of the Holocaust to serve as a reminder that genocide can happen at any time, at any place.
We are committed to preserving the memory of this horrific event by providing educational programs for residents of the San Francisco East Bay region.
Background
Since 2005, Chabad of The Tri-Valley (CT-V),has been a center for Jewish life and education for residents of the Tri-Valley in the East Bay of San Francisco. Since inception, CT-V has made Holocaust education a priority, organizing a series of community events that have featured:
Eva Schloss, survivor and step-sister of Anne Frank
2020
Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the world's most famous Nazi hunter
2019
Holocaust Memorial Art Exhibit, a three-day event to commemorate Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day)
2018
Rabbi Y.M. Wagner, Germany’s first post-Holocaust ordained rabbi
2015
Marthe Cohn, a French Jew who impersonated a Nazi nurse during World War II and secretly supplied military intelligence to Allied forces from behind enemy lines
2011
Philip Bialowitz, survivor and resistance fighter
2010 The Bielski Brothers, resistance fighters who waged guerilla warfare against the Nazis in the forests of Belarus
2008
Leon Leyson, one of the youngest Schindler’s List survivors
Survivor talks including:
Dr. Jacob Eisenbach, Leon Malmud, Abram Weberman, and more...
Educational Outreach
CT-V has also provided educational outreach to area high schools. CT-V Director Rabbi Raleigh Resnick has given presentations about the Holocaust at five Tri-Valley high schools. Livermore artist and President of EBHEC, Larry Lagin, created a multi-media Holocaust art exhibit that has thus far been loaned to several high schools in Fremont, Livermore and Pleasanton.
Vision
The community response to CT-V’s Holocaust education initiatives has been extremely positive. The events attracted large, enthusiastic, and diverse audiences that represented a broad range of ages, ethnicities, and religions. CT-V’s high school outreach revealed a strong interest among Tri-Valley youth in learning about the Holocaust.
Building on the strength of our Holocaust education initiatives to date, we are moving forward to a new phase in 2021: Launching East Bay Holocaust Education Center (EBHEC), an organization that will be dedicated to Holocaust education. EBHEC will allow us to offer more types of programming to a wider audience.
As of January 8, 2021, we have officially formed a non-profit corporation in the state of California and are filing for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the IRS.
Leadership
Below are Directors of the Board, who will be leading EBHEC. We expect to be adding more board members in the future. In addition, we will be forming an Advisory Board consisting of community leaders of diverse backgrounds and skills.
