The Jewish Community Relations Council is committed to offering Holocaust education to the broader community.
These programs and resources are critical to making sure that the history of this tragedy is understood and never forgotten.
Holocaust Memorial Ceremony
This annual program is hosted in partnership with the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation, Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation. This ceremony recognizes Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) and commemorates the six million Jews who perished in the Shoah and honors the survivors living in our communities. Each April, nearly 1,000 people, including political figures and interfaith partners, gather for this ceremony, which features candle lightings, music, readings and prayers. All are welcome.
With the global rise of Holocaust denial and trivialization, bringing together our community for this yearly memorial is more important than ever. Let us never forget.
The 2022 Holocaust Memorial Ceremony was themed “Behind and Beyond the Ghetto Walls,” and took place at the Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza.
The 2021 Holocaust Memorial Virtual Ceremony featured actors from the revival of Fiddler on the Roof, our Israeli Partnership2Gether community, reflections from Holocaust survivors, local politicians and community members, and discussions about preserving the legacies and the lessons of the Holocaust, as well as stories of women in the Jewish Resistance.
The 2020 Holocaust Memorial Ceremony featured the eyewitness testimony of Holocaust survivor Peter Stern, a violin solo by Phil Kates, Philadelphia Orchestra violinist, and a live sand art visual experience with Israeli artist Ilana Yahav.
For more information about this program, contact JCRC Director Jason Holtzman at jholtzman@jewishphilly.org or 215.832.0652.
Partner and Supported Organizations
The JCRC works with the following organizations to spread Holocaust awareness and increase Holocaust education.
3G Philly educates diverse communities about the perils of intolerance and provides a supportive forum for the descendants of Holocaust survivors, focusing on the perspective of the third generation of survivors in the greater Philadelphia area and across the Delaware Valley.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) fights all forms of hatred and bigotry and works to expose extremism, deliver anti-bias education and combat hate online. ADL Philadelphia often partners with the JCRC to host Holocaust education programming.
The Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors Association is dedicated to preserving the memory of the martyrs and victims of the Holocaust. As direct descendants of survivors, the members of the CJHSA share a deep commitment to honor their parents and relatives, preserve their unique heritage and culture, educate the community on Holocaust issues, fight bigotry and hatred, and encourage tolerance and equality.
Founded in 1895, Gratz College is the oldest independent and pluralistic college for Jewish studies in North America. Gratz runs a number of Holocaust education programs for students across the greater Philadelphia area.
Mordechai Anielewicz Creative Arts Competition
Named in memory of the heroic young leader who organized Jewish resistance and gave his life fighting in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, the Mordechai Anielewicz Creative Arts Competition invites students in grades 7-12 to learn about the Holocaust and respond by means of creative expression.
Youth Symposium on the Holocaust
This program is intended for high school students to learn about the universal lessons of the Holocaust from dynamic presentations and small-group discussions.
HAMEC aims to educate students and adults in the Philadelphia area and throughout the world, using the resources of the museum to personalize the Holocaust so that people learn the consequences of racism, ethnic cleansing and intolerance.
Founded in 1893, NCJW inspires volunteers and advocates to strive for social justice, specifically focusing on improving the quality of life for women, children and families and by safeguarding individual rights and freedoms. NCJW has previously provided funding to the JCRC’s Youth Symposium and recruited facilitators for that event.
The Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza, an initiative of the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation, is an innovative space in which people of all ages and backgrounds can gather to commemorate one of the worst genocides in human history, and discover how our constitutional protections shield us from from experiencing a tragedy of similar proportions on American soil. The space honors those who passed, and those who carry on their legacy.
Founded in 1978, Sons and Daughter of Holocaust Survivors is an organization composed of the Philadelphia-based children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. It was the first organization of children of survivors in Philadelphia and aims to share survivors’ personal narratives to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive.
Resources for Teaching About the Holocaust
The JCRC is dedicated to commemorating the Holocaust, honoring the memory of those who perished and promoting an understanding of the uniqueness and magnitude of the Holocaust, its consequences and critical lessons, through educational programs.
Below are age-appropriate resources and educational programs for middle and high school students.
These materials are approved by the JCRC and meet the guidelines set forth by Act 70 of the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Act 70 (enacted in 2014) provides instruction and materials for public and parochial schools to have Holocaust education. At this time, over 90% of the school districts in the Commonwealth offer instruction in the Holocaust, genocide and other human rights violations. The JCRC was instrumental in the development and passage of this legislation.
Resource Links
- VIDEO: I Remember: A Conversation with Adi Rabinowitz Bedein
- VIDEO: Real Life Spies: A Conversation with Gershom Gorenberg
- Historical Overview of Holocaust Commemoration
- Primary Sources Online For Studying the Holocaust
- Suggested Resources for Teachers & Students of Grades 7-12
- VIDEO: Kristallnacht and Veteran’s Day: A Story from the War with Ambassador John L. Withers II
- AUDIO: A Conversation With Survivor Ann Jaffe
- Leading a Trip to the U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum: Pre- and Post-Trip Suggestions
Find additional Holocaust education resources for teachers and students by contacting JCRC Director Jason Holtzman at jholtzman@jewishphilly.org or 215.832.0652.
How to Get Involved
The JCRC has a Holocaust Education and Remembrance Committee. Composed of layleaders, the committee commemorates the Holocaust by honoring the memory of those who perished and promoting an understanding of the uniqueness and magnitude of the Holocaust, its consequences and critical lessons.