Holocaust Talks
Given by a 2nd generation Holocaust Survivor

My talks are available to schools,
religious groups, libraries, clubs, etc.
Supporting our Legacy of Remembrance
(There is never a fee)

Note: Background is my grandmother's arrest report for deportation to Auschwitz (Line 9: Frajdla Sara Zaks)     

I have been giving my talks, to help keep the memory of the Shoah alive, since January 2021.
In that time I have reached over 2550 people in live presentations,
​and have over 700 views of the talks on YouTube and Vimeo.

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My Passion
I am always willing to present my talks to any venue, but my passion is to bring the story of my parents experiences to schools and public libraries.  If you are a teacher and are concerned about the relevance and how my presentation fits into your school curriculum, or if you are a library event administrator and wonder if my program would be appropriate, please read the Testimonials tab and review this list of schools and public libraries where I have done my presentations:

Schools
Mahwah High School (every year for past 4 years)
Indian Hills High School
Pascack Valley High School
Ridgewood High School  (Scheduled)
Cedar Drive Middle School
Grover Cleveland Middle School
Janis Dismus Middle School
Pequannock Township Middle School
Byram Intermediate School
Benway School
St. Elizabeth University
Fairleigh Dickinson University (Scheduled)

Public Libraries
Mahwah Public Library
River Edge Library
Fair Lawn Public Library
​Westwood Public Library
Wyckoff Public Library
​Kemmerer Library -Harding Township
​Roxbury Public Library
Pequannock Township Public Library
Parsippany Library
​Montville Public Library  (Scheduled)
​Secaucus Public Library (Scheduled)
​Wayne Public Library  (Scheduled)

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My Background
After retiring in 2016 from a successful career in IT and computer programming,  I started a quest of researching and documenting the history of my parents’ experiences and hardships growing up in Poland in the 1930’s.  Starting with a 2 hour audio interview I conducted with my parents back in 1980, I have now spent 6+ years researching my parent's experiences to fill in the details and to tell their story. After traveling to the pivotal locations of their story, I have assembled a presentation that is comprised of historical records, actual Nazi documentation and audio clips from the 1980 interview.

​The presentation is not a history lesson, but is instead a deeply personal story about the human experience of the Holocaust.  The presentation, “Bearing Witness for my Family: Surviving the Holocaust”, shows that survival is dependent on your own strength as well as the actions of good people who were resistors to the violence and murder.  It starts in 1937, when my parents were 17 and 18 years old and traces their lives from before WWII, how they survived multiple concentration camps and death marches, and how they eventually rebuilt their lives in America.  The presentation is appropriate for all ages and does not contain any horrific pictures of the death camps.

Continuing my efforts to keep the memory of the Shoah alive, I have also completed two other presentations on how anyone can conduct their own research on a family member’s experiences of the Holocaust. “Recovering the Past: Researching the Fate of One’s Family in the Shoah”,  is a detailed explanation on how anyone can find, interpret, and translate amazing details on their family’s Holocaust experiences.  A second version of this talk merges the two talks by showing the basics of the research process while piecing together my father's story.

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I have been honored that my work has become a feature article in the May 26, 2023 issue of the Jewish Standard, a weekly publication for the Northern New Jersey and Rockland County, NY areas.
I invite you to read the article on their web page by clicking HERE.​

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Please CONTACT ME if you have any questions or to book a presentation.

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Giving my talk to AP History classes at Mahwah High School - February 2023