Holocaust Awareness & Education

The Jewish Federation of Northwest Indiana works to promote racial and religious understanding and endeavors to eliminate anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry through advocacy and educational programming. An important part of this mission is fostering awareness and remembrance of the Holocaust.
Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center presents:
Coffee with a Survivor: Ernest Fruehauf
Recorded Wed., Nov. 11, 2020
As a young child, Mr. Ernest Fruehauf (a longtime Northwest Indiana resident) experienced the rising tide of hate and antisemitism throughout Germany. On November 9-10, 1938, during the events of Kristallnacht, an angry mob ransacked his family cafe, located below their upstairs home. Hear Ernest share his story in this interview.

SlidingDors: A Partnership2Gether Program

If you are a Second Generation (2G) family member of a Holocaust Survivor and interested in participating or learning more about SlidingDors, please contact our Northwest Indiana community coordinator, Rosalie Levinson. 
  • An in-person outdoor callout meeting was held Wednesday, September 30, in Munster. 
  • A second meeting of our local chapter will take place Wednesday, October 21, 10:30am at Federation (masks required). 
  • Monthly international meetings with the Partnership consortium will begin December 13, 2020.
SlidingDors is a play on words. In the 1998 film Sliding Doors, a woman’s career and life is determined on whether or not she catches a train. Our program, SlidingDors, replaces “door” with the Hebrew word for generation, דור dor, and evokes a similar determination that many families had to make for their future; to stay in Hungary or immigrate to the US or Israel.
SlidingDors:
  • Connects US, Hungarian and Israeli P2G second-generation Holocaust survivors to discuss and share their unique Jewish identity in their own communities and with other P2G communities.
  • Inspires participants to tell their stories using a variety of creative outlets including group discussion, one-on-one conversation, storytelling, visual arts, writing, and other possibilities.
  • Provides opportunity for optional trips to Budapest, Poland, and Israel
​“We are telling the stories of our parents and grandparents and their courage of survival and revival that shaped our world.”

​~ Co-Chair Tanja Ronen (Moshav Regba, Israel)
“We have inherited silent traumas from our parents, and we can only get rid of them if we speak them out.”

​~ Co-Chair Erzsi Sándor (Budapest, Hungary)

Holocaust Education: Professional Development Workshops

The Jewish Federation of Northwest Indiana conducts a bi-annual workshop for teachers on the Holocaust and genocide and/or diversity and tolerance. This program was last offered in Fall 2018. Due to COVID-19, the next workshop will be postponed to Fall 2021.
In the meantime, the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center (Skokie, IL) is offering an extensive online menu of professional development webinars for educators. Webinars are free and last 60-90 minutes (1 to 1.5 credit hours).

Holocaust Student Art & Writing Contest

Due to COVID-19, the first annual Holocaust Student Art & Writing Contest will be postponed to Fall 2021.