News & Impact

September 14, 2023—Governor Newsom has signed and passed California’s 2023-24 budget, which includes $1.5 million in renewed funding for the California Teachers Collaborative for Holocaust and Genocide Education. The Collaborative is developing a robust series of new, standards-aligned lessons and teacher training initiatives to educate 6 – 12th graders about what happens when bias goes unchecked. The funding included in the State budget will support the continued work of the Collaborative to train over 8,500 teachers and educate over one million California students by 2027. The California Teachers Collaborative is the first of its kind in the nation. Established by… Read More

June 6, 2023, San Francisco—The Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS) Holocaust Center has announced the public phase of a $45 million capital campaign to build a new, state-of-the-art Holocaust Center, library, and archive. The JFCS Holocaust Center is widely recognized statewide, nationally, and internationally as a leader in Holocaust and genocide education. The organization is currently guiding a major statewide response to combatting antisemitism, including co-chairing the Governor’s Council on Holocaust and Genocide Education and leading the California Teachers Collaborative, a critical initiative that will reach California’s students, teachers, and community members over the next five years. Antisemitic incidents… Read More

In 1977, San Francisco’s reputation as a city of peace and love was tested by an unexpected threat: just steps away from a synagogue in the Outer Sunset, a Nazi bookstore had opened its doors.   This brazen, shameless act infuriated Tauba Weiss, a member of the city’s considerable population of Holocaust survivors. She confronted the shop owner on Erev Pesach, demanding that he explain himself—was it not enough that the Nazis had killed so many of her people in Europe just years ago? The man responded cruelly, “No, it was not enough.”   Filled with anger, Tauba picked a rock up… Read More

There is no more powerful tool in fighting antisemitism than Holocaust and genocide education. The JFCS Holocaust Center’s Manovill Seminar program is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for high school students to dive deep into the ties between racism, antisemitism, and the patterns of genocide as they learn how to become upstanders in their communities. The program carries on the legacy of Lilly Manovill Endrei z”l, who courageously helped fellow Jews from the Budapest ghetto escape and survive. In this three-month long program, students hear first-hand survivor testimony, engage in stimulating discussions, and explore historical artifacts in the Tauber Archives. It culminates… Read More

Every Tuesday at 1pm, you’ll find Tzippi poised at her computer, ready to help Holocaust survivors participate in Café by the Bay. The Café meets regularly in San Francisco and Marin and on the Peninsula to enjoy art, music, speakers, discussions, and celebrations. Tzippi is one of 30 volunteers who help with everything from planning gatherings to providing technical support for survivors who join virtually. Each volunteer is paired with a “friend”—a survivor with whom they form a close relationship. Tzippi’s commitment to the group shines in the relationship she’s built with Rebecca, the 96-year-old “friend” she’s been working with… Read More

Inspired by her grandparents’ experience as Holocaust survivors, Tania Albukerk, a longtime JFCS volunteer, and her husband, Larry, became donors to JFCS’ comprehensive, loving services for local Holocaust survivors. “We want to help survivors have the best possible years,” says Tania, who also helps to strengthen our community by serving on JFCS’ Program & Planning and Loans & Grants Committees. “Growing up, I felt immersed in the visceral, lived experience of those who had been through the horrors of the Holocaust and World War II,” says Tania. Since her three children and their peers do not have this experience, Tania… Read More