Past Conferences
Dr Irit Felsen speaks at the 2024 World Federation of Jewish Holocaust Survivors & Descendants Conference
Dr. Irit Felsen joined the WFHS&D 2024 Conference in Toronto, CA to present a plenary talk on How has the Israel/Gaza War been impacting the various generations of the Shoah?
The 2024 Conference was a Great Success!
300 Holocaust Survivors and Descendants gathered in Markham, Canada for 3 days of community, making connections, learning from each other, talking, and dancing!
2024 Conference Program
The 2024 World Federation of Jewish Holocaust Survivors & Descendants conference, in conjunction with Generations of the Shoah International and The Kindertransport Association, was held September 20-23, 2024 in Toronto, Canada. The conference’s theme was: “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Living in Challenging Times”.
2023 Conference Program
The 2023 World Federation of Jewish Holocaust Survivors & Descendants conference, in conjunction with Generations of the Shoah International and The Kindertransport Association, will be held August 25-28 2023 in Washington DC at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. This conference is open only to survivors and descendants and accompanying spouses/partners. Conference co-sponsors include the Child Survivor
St Louis Conference 2022: The US Holocaust Memorial Museum and the USC Shoah Foundation
Preserving Holocaust History Through Artifacts and Research. Experts from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will present on how they continue rescuing the evidence of the Holocaust and acquiring materials amid the pandemic, including conducting oral history interviews, and about the meticulous research offered to all. SPEAKERS: James Gilmore, Oral History Curator, Curatorial Acquisitions
The 2022 WF Conference in St Louis was a great success!
After 2 long years, the community gathered together, 4 generations strong, for an in-person conference. Memories, tears, insights, joy, and dances were shared, longtime connections renewed and new made.
The Humanitarian Crisis in Ukraine 7.24.2022
Jonathan Ornstein, executive director of the Jewish Community Centre of Krakow, and Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland, speak with members of the World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust and Descendants on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. To watch the 80 minute video: https://vimeo.com/734445681
Helen Epstein: Drawing on the Past to Meet the Crises of the Present
Helen Epstein, author of the groundbreaking Children of the Holocaust speaks with the WF 4.10.2022. The topic is “Drawing on the past to meet the crises of our present.” She speaks about how her parents’ experiences during the Holocaust were role models for her as she faced Covid-19 and cancer and discusses how similar coping
Dr. Irit Felsen Speaks to the WF
Dr. Irit Felsen speaks on Generations of Holocaust Survivors and “How the Holocaust affects us and why our gatherings mean so much to us” The talk, 1.5 hours, followed by a discussion with participants, took place in the ether, on zoom on November 7, 2021. To watch, click here
Michael Berenbaum "Making Sense of This Moment in Time"
In the World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust and Descendants’ first virtual event, Michael Berenbaum speaks on current events to World Federation members on January 17, 2021. This event may now be viewed online here
2019 WFJCSH&D Conference Vancouver, November 1-4 Robert Krell Keynote
The Future of Our Past: Informing and Inspiring the Next Generations Keynote for 31st Gathering of WFJCSH&D Vancouver, B.C. Canada November 2, 2019 Dear friends, Look around you. Embrace what you see. Already you are sharing a miracle. For how is it possible that we are here? Think of it.
2019 WFJCSH&D Conference Vancouver, November 1-4
Nearly 400 Survivor Generations: Child Survivors, members of the Second and Third Generations, gathered together in sunny and chilly Vancouver. Together with the Vancouver Holocaust Centre, a memorable program was designed. Workshops, speakers and panel discussions were engaging, emotional and educational, and a wonderful community was created over the three days.
2019 Conference, Vancouver. Historians and Survivors as Partners in Telling the truth of the Shoah, Chris Friedrichs
HISTORIANS AND SURVIVORS AS PARTNERS IN TELLING THE TRUTH OF THE SHOAH Chris Friedrichs Professor Emeritus of History University of British Columbia World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust and Descendants conference November 2019 Note: You may quote or cite this lecture, but please do not publish or circulate the full text
WFJCSH&D conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, 9- 12 November 2018
Again we have participated in a wonderful conference, this time at Florida’s east coast. The weather was great and we stayed in the nice Marriot West Palm Beach hotel, where we could sit and schmooze in a spacious lobby, a wonderful garden and relax and swim in the pool.
2018 Conference, West Palm Beach, How to Succeed at Succession, Robert Krell speech
Dear Friends, It is precisely 80 years since the Reich’s Kristallnacht Pogrom of November 9 & 10, 1938. We must take note of that precise moment when the Shoah began in its most lethal form. Of course, German propaganda and its virulent anti-Semitism had been evident for many years and Jewish civil rights had been…
2018 Conference, West Palm Beach, Max Arpels Lezer November 9 speech
Dear friends, ladies and gentlemen, honoured guests. Today we commemorate that 80 years ago on November 9, 1938 Kristallnacht in Germany took place. A horible night for Jews living in Germany. I do not need to tell you that on the night of November 9; 1400 synagogues were burned down and demolished.
2017 Conference, Jerusalem
With an attendance of 370 (including 135 survivors and spouses!) and coverage from multiple news outlets, this year’s conference can safely be called a huge success! The Israel location was especially nice for those with Israeli relatives.
2016, Los Angeles, Letter from a 2G
Dear WFJHS&D: Though I’d always been deeply interested in my mother’s past as a hidden survivor in Paris, I’d never given much thought to the Holocaust’s enduring effects on my generation or myself until I attended the 2016 conference in Los Angeles. I was surprised, though shouldn’t have been, how emotionally difficult it was at…
2015 Conference, Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas 2015 Conference a Great Success! World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust and Descendants and Generations of the Shoah International (GSI), with Houston Holocaust Museum – 2015 Joint Conference Houston Texas, USA, October 9-12, 2015. The feedback has been very positive. Speakers, workshops, panels, entertainment, all excellent. Were you there?