- Education
- Named Endowment Funds
- Holocaust Center
Philanthropist Bill Lowenberg, who survived Auschwitz, spent much of his life educating children, grandchildren, and countless others about the lessons of the Holocaust. Now, two years after his death, his legacy lives on at the newly named William J. Lowenberg Speakers Bureau of the JFCS Holocaust Center.
A significant gift from the philanthropic fund of his daughter, Susan Lowenberg, and her spouse, Joyce Newstat, ensures that young people throughout the Bay Area will hear survivors’ stories of moral courage for years to come.
“The two Holocaust-related institutions that my father felt closest to were the JFCS Holocaust Center, locally, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, nationally,” says Susan.
“It was very important to my father that young people understand the Holocaust and that they never forget. He saw the impact that eyewitness testimonies had on students.”
Each year, dozens of survivors visit hundreds of classrooms throughout the Bay Area to share their personal accounts with tens of thousands of middle and high school and university students. “I teach young people to have compassion and remain aware of what’s happening in the world,” says AnneMarie Yellin, a member of the William J. Lowenberg Speakers Bureau who has talked to thousands of students over the years. “I tell them that they can make a difference.”