Holocaust Story Project

The Holocaust Story Project offers free, age-appropriate Holocaust and genocide education programs for students in grades 5-12. Our speakers offer family history stories from the wide variety of experiences Jewish families endured during World War II, ranging from internment in forced labor and concentration camps, survival in hiding or living “under cover,” to having barely escaped from Europe before borders were closed when the war started. Speakers are available for in-person presentations in the North Bay and entire Bay Area, California, and via Zoom or video conferencing for schools outside the Bay Area, with pre-recorded story videos as well as live Q&A sessions. Our speakers have visited virtual classrooms beyond the Bay Area, nationally and internationally.

While the population of Holocaust survivors is rapidly dwindling, our education programs provide teachers and students an opportunity to hear living survivors and their descendants tell their stories and engage directly with the lessons of this history, so they can feel and understand its relevance to students’ lives today.

Holocaust survivors and rescuers, survivors of other genocides and their descendants, as well as Holocaust and genocide scholars, are available to speak with students from their own experiences of intolerance, bullying exclusion, and bystander behavior. Through these oral histories and photographs, maps, and film clips that enliven the stories, we engage the power of empathy and mutual caring in students’ own lives.

Our speakers can be scheduled for individual classrooms or for larger gatherings and assemblies, either individually or as part of a panel. Reading and film lists are available so that students can be prepared for the presentations, have a contextual framework and follow up with additional study.

The focus and goals of our presentations are:

1. To teach students the history of the Holocaust and other genocides and make them aware of the ideas and behaviors that led to these events.
2. To foster discussion and encourage appropriate responses  to bullying, exclusion, intolerance, stereotyping, and similar “othering” behaviors.
3. To encourage students to seek solutions in their own sphere of influence. 
4. To facilitate a more peaceful and compassionate school environment through awareness, reflection, prevention, and reconciliation.
5. To provide resources for teachers.

Please see the Speakers tab above for biographies of our presenters.

To schedule a free presentation or for more information, please email contact@holocauststoryproject.org.