- Press Releases
How do you say no to injustice? Stand up for your and other people’s rights? JFCS’ Holocaust Center is helping thousands of young people to answer these questions, understand how the Holocaust came about, and learn how to prevent future genocides.
Among the center’s many educational programs is its annual Day of Learning, on Sun., Mar. 13, 2011, 1:00 – 5:00 pm, at San Francisco’s Mercy High School, 3250 19th Ave. Approximately 500 high school students and teachers throughout the state will attend workshops that run the gamut: from “Where Were the Churches? The Role of the Churches in Holocaust and Genocide” to “Never Again Is Happening Now! The Crisis in Darfur, Sudan.”
“This is an opportunity for young people, as well as educators, to think about ways that we can work together to make our communities more caring and inclusive,” says Morgan Blum, Director of Education at JFCS’ Holocaust Center, who notes that the Day of Learning will also include workshops about the genocides against Bosnians, Rwandans, and Armenians.
For Jim McGarry, a Mercy High School teacher, having the Day of Learning on his campus allows students and teachers to honor survivors and to talk openly and honestly about the role that Christianity played before and during the Holocaust. Indeed, says Blum, approximately 85 percent of the event’s participants come from non-Jewish backgrounds. “The interest that the Day of Learning generates in the general community is absolutely astounding and extraordinarily inspiring,” she says.
Registration for the Day of Learning—a free event supported by Lydia and Douglas Shorenstein—as as well as details about workshops and presenters can be found at the JFCS website. Register as a student; register as an educator.
About JFCS and the Holocaust Center
Founded in 1850 by immigrant pioneers who arrived in California during the Gold Rush and created an extended family to care for each other, JFCS is one of the oldest and largest family service institutions in the United States. More than 160 years later, we continue to serve as that extended family, serving 75,000 people annually with the highest quality, research-based social services designed to strengthen individuals, families, and the community.
The JFCS Holocaust Center is dedicated to the education, documentation, research, and remembrance of the Holocaust. Each year, it offers many programs and workshops to increase the awareness of the public about the causes and consequences of hatred, intolerance, and indifference—during the Holocaust, as well as during contemporary times.