Claims Conference

Illustrating the dangers?of unchecked hate, and launched at a time when antisemitism is at an all-time high, INSIDE KRISTALLNACHT - a new virtual reality project from the Claims Conference - aims to provide first-hand encounters spotlighting a “pivotal” moment in the Holocaust. Gideon Taylor, President of the Claims Conference: “This level of technology isn’t just giving a powerful experience – it provides learning opportunities that can reach an audience in a very personal way. Allowing individuals to feel as though they are on the street in the aftermath of Kristallnacht enables them not just to learn about what happened at the onset of World War II but to understand it in a very immersive way. This is the kind of education we need to reach future generations who will be far removed from the experience of hearing the first-hand testimonies of survivors.” To access Inside Kristallnacht please visit https://lnkd.in/gAwrSE9K and #NeverForget This virtual reality project integrates footage, photographs and audio of Kristallnacht, as well as historical content, into the hand-drawn world of Dr. Charlotte Knobloch, the Holocaust survivor on which?Inside Kristallnacht?is based.?Throughout the experience, Dr. Knobloch recounts the evening of November 9, 1938, the night when hatred peaked and the violence against Europe’s Jewish population, that would lead to the Holocaust, began.? The Claims Conference commissioned the USC Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and Education and immersive technology company makemepulse, and partners Meta and UNESCO, to create a mixed-reality experience that animates Dr. Knobloch’s memories, beginning on the night of Kristallnacht and continuing until the end of the Holocaust, that delivers users a deeper, emotional understanding of her survival, of Kristallnacht and of the years that followed. #HolocaustEducation Jackie Hajdenberg #Kristallnacht

New Program Officer (Holocaust research, education, and documentation grantmaking) opportunity with the Claims Conference, where I worked back in the day! Important, meaningful work + cool colleagues like Tony Rodriguez, Robyn Berman, and Erica Fishbein = winning all around!

We’re #hiring a new Grant Administrator. Apply today. #HolocaustSurvivors #HolocaustEducation #PartnersInCare

#HolocaustEducation #NeverForget #NeverAgain

How did older Jews experience the #Holocaust? What happened to the few older survivors? Join us online or in-person on September 9 for a symposium at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The event, co-organized by Elizabeth (Betsy) Anthony (USHMM), Christine Schmidt (The Wiener Holocaust Library) and me (Claims Conference) precedes the publication of a new volume about older Jews before, during, and after the Holocaust (under contract with Wayne State University Press). Presenters and moderators include: Rebecca Carter-Chand, Kierra Crago-Schneider, Patricia Heberer Rice, Natalya Lazar, and Anna Ullrich (USHMM); Maria Ferenc (The Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute); Katharina Friedla (The Hoover Institution, Stanford University); Michael Geheran (United States Military Academy at West Point); Niamh Hanrahan (The University of Manchester); Borbála Klacsmann (University College Dublin); Roxy Moore and Dan Stone (Royal Holloway, University of London); Katarzyna Person (Warsaw Ghetto Museum / Muzeum Getta Warszawskiego); Xin Tong (Shanghai International Studies University); Lidia Zessin-Jurek (Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Stockton University). For more information and to register: https://lnkd.in/eg56yjav

Grants for universities in Eastern Europe (broadly defined): Applications for the Claims Conference University Partnership in #Holocaust Studies are now open for the 2025-2026 academic year and are due by November 13, 2024. For more information and to apply, visit https://lnkd.in/eCQB9p-c. ?? from the 2024 University Partnership annual summer workshop for Lecturers that took place in Warsaw, Poland, and which included a study trip to the Treblinka Memorial and Museum.

“I could never have imagined a day when Holocaust survivors would be confronting such a tremendous wave of Holocaust denial and distortion, but sadly, that day is here" - Greg Schneider, Claims Conference EVP. On May 2, 2024, the?Claims Conference?launched?#CancelHate, a campaign featuring Holocaust survivors reading Holocaust denial posts found on social media. Each post illustrates how Holocaust denial and distortion can not only rewrite history but perpetuate antisemitic tropes and spread hate. Gideon Taylor, Claims Conference President: “The world is a volatile place right now. Social media offers individuals a place to hide while they spread words of hate. This campaign shows that these are not victimless posts – these mean and vile words deny the first-hand testimony of each and every Holocaust survivor, their suffering and the suffering and often loss of their families.” Cancel Hate is a month-long campaign with videos of Holocaust survivors being posted for 30 straight days. Please join us in fighting hate by liking and sharing these posts across all Claims Conference social media platforms. #SocialMedia?#Holocaust?#WordsMatter

Applications are now open for the 2024 Emerging Filmmaker Contest and the deadline has been extended to June 25th at 11:59pm ET! Recognizing the potential of movies to reach large numbers of people while educating and sparking powerful discussions, the Claims Conference is inviting emerging filmmakers worldwide to make short films about the Holocaust. To learn more about the contest: https://film.claimscon.org

The Claims Conference's Survivor Speakers Bureau - launched Thursday, April 4, 2024: “It is one thing to read about the Holocaust in a textbook, a few paragraphs about the global politics of World War II and the history of Europe. It is another thing altogether to sit with someone who was deported from their hometown, stripped of everything they own, made to live in hiding or to endure a concentration camp. "If speaking directly with the few remaining survivors makes an impact for even one person, I am more than willing to participate" - Holocaust survivor Hanne Holsten. 270 Holocaust survivors have joined the Claims Conference's international Survivor Speakers Bureau to share their histories with students during a time of rising antisemitism. “It is more important than ever that every student in every school, regardless of where they are, have the opportunity to hear directly from the Holocaust survivors who are still with us. "First-hand accounts are essential to maintaining Holocaust memory and go much further to ensure people understand the impact of bigotry, antisemitism, and unchecked hatred" - Greg Schneider, Claims Conference EVP. The Claims Conference's Survivor Speakers Bureau connects Holocaust survivors with students in person and virtually - the latter ensures first-hand testimony is accessible globally and allows communities that have never had the opportunity to hear a Holocaust survivor share their stories. To request a survivor speaker, a school or social group must register their institution on the bureau’s website: www.claimscon.org/Speakers. Once registered, they can fill out an event request which includes forms for audience size, average audience age and venue, as well as any special requests and requirements. The Claims Conference considers each request before connecting institutions or groups with survivors. #HolocaustEducation #NeverForget #NeverAgain

#PartnersInCare #HolocaustSurvivors #NowMoreThanEver JDC (The Joint)