Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Claims Conference

The Wiener Holocaust Library @wienerlibrary.bsky.social · 23h

On 8 October 1939 the first ghetto was opened at Piotrków. This was soon followed by the ghetto in Radomsko, and the first major ghetto in Łódź in February 1940

Over the following two years, hundreds of ghettos would be established across Poland

Learn more #TheHolocaustExplained

What were the ghettos and camps? – The Holocaust Explained: Designed for schools

This map, created by Herbert Froboess and entitled Deutschland 1945, shows some of the camps in Nazi Germany and some of the surrounding occupied countries.

buff.ly

1 6 8

Reposted by Claims Conference

Jewish Federations of North America @jfederations.bsky.social · 13d

Mazel tov to Robert French, the new CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas!

Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas announces Robert French as new CEO

French succeeds Rabbi Mordechai Harris, who served as interim CEO from January to September.

www.dallasnews.com

1 2

Reposted by Claims Conference

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Mar 6

The Stupnickas and the Jews they had rescued remained close and on September 19, 1984, Yad Vashem recognized Janina and her daughter Anna as Righteous Among the Nations.

A digital version of STRONGER THAN FEAR is available at claimscon.org/stronger-than-fear.

1 5

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Sep 3

We are grateful for the 25 years Rabbi Menachem Hacohen z”l devoted to the Claims Conference and our mission to provide for Holocaust survivors and to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust are not forgotten. May his memory be a blessing and legacy inspire us to carry on his vision of unity.

2

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Aug 28

"Hearing from a survivor made history feel personal."

At a Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Center program – in partnership with Yahad–In Unum and supported by a Claims Conference grant – 40 teachers from 5 African nations explored teaching the Holocaust in today’s world.
https://bit.ly/4lSA7z4

African Teachers Gather in South Africa for Holocaust Education Training Amid Rising Antisemitism

Teachers from South Africa, Nigeria, Namibia, Botswana, and Eswatini gather for a weeklong Holocaust education training program. Photo: Cape Town …

bit.ly

Reposted by Claims Conference

hana martin @nitramanah.bsky.social · Aug 27

"..but you weren't liberated from what happened to you.

"The Shoah lives inside you, it doesn't disappear."

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Aug 27

Pinchas Gutter and his family witnessed the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, hidden in a bunker until being discovered in May 1943 and deported to Majdanek, where his mother, Chaya, his father, Menachem, and his twin sister, Sabina, were murdered. Pinchas was liberated from Theresienstadt on May 8, 1945.

3 4

Reposted by Claims Conference

Joanna Sliwa @joannasliwa24.bsky.social · Aug 27

How does age affect people’s experiences in times of humanitarian crisis? This forthcoming book coedited by @ceschmidt.bsky.social, Betsy Anthony, and me explores the lives of #OlderJews before, during, and after the #Holocaust. wsupress.wayne.edu/9780814352052/

2 6 18

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Aug 27

Pinchas Gutter and his family witnessed the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, hidden in a bunker until being discovered in May 1943 and deported to Majdanek, where his mother, Chaya, his father, Menachem, and his twin sister, Sabina, were murdered. Pinchas was liberated from Theresienstadt on May 8, 1945.

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Aug 21

A Claims Conference supported film, Oscar-winning filmmaker László Nemes’s “Orphan” follows a boy's discovery of his mother’s survival during WW2 when a man claiming to be his missing father returns. The film will compete for the Golden Lion at this year's Venice International Film Festival.

Venice International Film Festival Aug 27, 2025 – Sep 9, 2025 https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2025

2

Reposted by Claims Conference

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Nov 14

#DOCNYCfest WORLD PREMIERE: PLUNDER, directed by Hugo Macgregor. “It’s not every day that you meet an old Nazi.” So begins Jonathan Petropoulos recalling the day when he met Bruno Lohse, Hermann Göring’s art agent, during WW2 @docnycfest.bsky.social #HolocaustEducation
www.docnyc.net/film/plunder...

www.docnyc.net

1 5

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Jul 30

“Freezing weather and epidemics – but these horrors were only details. The most significant thing was the gas chamber and the crematorium. This was the logical end for any Jew entering Birkenau” – Algerian-born Holocaust survivor Gabriel Bénichou, Dec 15, 1926 – Jul 23, 2025.

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Jul 24

“In every encounter with a survivor, I see a spark of the ability to rebuild life. Our partnership with the Claims Conference allows us to turn compassion into daily action" - Natali Zohar, Dir of the Department of Social Services in Netivot.

#PartnersInCare

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Jul 18

“Every day we thought we might not survive" - Holocaust survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, born July 17, 1925.

#ISurvivedAuschwitz: Anita was a cello player, and it helped save her life at Auschwitz. “They want music, they need the musicians; if they kill us, they won’t have it.” #RememberThis

1

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Jul 17

#HolocaustEducation

EHRI @ehri-project.eu · Jul 17

CALL | Excellent opportunity for Eastern European based Universities!
Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social University Partnership Program in Holocaust Studies
www.ehri-project.eu/call-for-eas...

2

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Jul 16

Director Abby Ginzberg’s LABORS OF LOVE explores the enduring legacy of Henrietta Szold, one of the most influential American Jewish women who ever lived.

San Francisco Jewish Film Festival:
July 26 1130 AM - JCC San Francisco
July 29 100 PM - Piedmont Theatre
Tickets: jfi.org/sfjff-2025

2

Reposted by Claims Conference

Landecker Digital Memory Lab @ldml.bsky.social · Jun 26

From this afternoon's session on Kristallnacht VR with Rachel Ferrucci Barbara Ghammashi and Abigail Prade from @claims-conference.bsky.social Conference, chaired by Vincent Du.
#ldml_25

2 4

Reposted by Claims Conference

Landecker Digital Memory Lab @ldml.bsky.social · Jun 11

This web-based #VR experience exploring the events of #Kristallnacht through Dr. Charlotte Knobloch's testimony, which brought together the @claims-conference.bsky.social,
@uscshoahfoundation.bsky.social, @unesco.org, Meta, and #XR company makemepulse, will be presented at our Expo.

#ldml_25

4 5

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Jun 10

"Jewish Forced Labor in Romania" explores the internal logic of the Antonescu regime and how it balanced its ideological imperative for antisemitic persecution with the economic needs of a state engaged in total war whose economy was still heavily dependent on the skills of its Jewish pop - IUPress.

1

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Jun 10

At the annual Saul Kagan Fellowship in Advanced Shoah Studies Workshop, alumnus Dr. Dallas Michelbacher (2014-2016), an Applied Researcher at the @ushmm.bsky.social, an expert on the Holocaust in Romania and the author of the book "Jewish Forced Labor in Romania, 1940-1944," gave the keynote.

1 1 5

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Jun 6

The annual workshop of the Claims Conference #SaulKagan Fellowship in Advanced Shoah Studies brought early-career scholars together to discuss their projects. It also allowed them to connect with former Fellows, including those currently working at the @ushmm.bsky.social. #HolocaustEducation

2 7

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Jun 4

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Roberta Grossman, "Reckonings" recounts the tense negotiations between Jewish and German leaders. The film poses the question: How could reparations be determined for the unprecedented destruction and suffering of a people?

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Jun 4

Helena took up ballroom dancing in her 80s, where she danced at the Manhattan Ballroom Society, and became known as the “dancing angel.” The Claims Conference was honored that Helena shared the horrors that she endured in the film “Reckonings: The First Reparations”.

1

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Jun 4

Following a lengthy recovery in Sweden, Helena immigrated to New York, she married Joseph Weinrauch in 1951. Their daughter, Arlene, was born in 1953. Arlene passed away in the 1990s from breast cancer; Joseph died in 2006. They have been married for 55 years.

1

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Jun 4

Helena was discovered after being reported to the Gestapo by a former classmate and deported to Plaszów and then Auschwitz. From there, she survived a 500-mile death march to Bergen-Belsen and was liberated by the British Army, found underneath a pile of bodies, on Apr 15, 1945. She weighed 60 lbs.

1

Claims Conference @claims-conference.bsky.social · Jun 4

Helena’s parents and sister were forced into hiding under the Soviets. However, due to her age, Helena was able to attend school and work. The Weinstocks were reunited but after the Nazis returned and Helena’s parents and sister were rounded up. She would never see them again.

1