The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh is an invaluable community resource. Among other things, it teaches tolerance and diversity, key lessons of the Holocaust.
The Holocaust Center was a very valuable resource for me during the years that I was a high school history teacher. My students were able to benefit from the Center's Survivor Speakers Program, their middle and high school annual seminars, the Arts and Writing Competition, their library and archive resources and a variety of lectures, programs, exhibits, etc. The staff of the Holocaust Center has changed over the years, but every staff member has been knowledgeable, professional, welcoming and helpful to the many students and adults that I have sent to them for advice and assistance.
I have used the Holocaust Center in a variety of ways. I have taken my students there to tour the facility and to hear survivors and others speak. I have had survivors speak at my school when we were unable to visit the Holocaust Center. I have attended workshops at the Center about teaching the Holocaust. The Holocaust offers a wealth of materials available to educators. In my opinion teaching our youth about the Holocaust is vital. The Holocaust Center has greatly helped me achieve that goal.
Wonderful place! Fantastic educational programs! Took a class through the AIU-great speakers, learned so much!
The Holocaust Center performs a vital service in building awareness and educating the community about one of the darkest periods of modern history. In so doing, the Center advances the teaching of univeral and timeless lessons of the dangers of hate and intolerance. The Center's programs are varied and feature presenters ranging from experts on history to individuals who tell their own tragic and compelling stories of how the Holocaust robbed them of their families, their homes and their innocence. Now faced with the challenge of continuing to tell these important stories despite a shrinking survivor community, the Holocaust Center has been innovative in creating new initiatives like the Legacy Project, which provides beautifully-produced DVDs with the real-life stories of survivors and concentration camp liberators; incredible art exhibitions; an original play; and even an original ballet in partnership with our acclaimed Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. The Center's efforts will help ensure that the Holocaust the the Six Million lost will not be forgotten.
The Holocaust Center is doing an excellent job keeping the story of the Holocaust alive, teaching the lessons of tolerance and fighting to preserve the rights of others. The outreach that The Center does to area schools and educational institutions is invaluable, and the Testimony Project, which has recorded the stories of 18 of the local survivors, is a tremendous resource.
I have taken my students to the Holocaust Center every year for the past seven years as part of a lesson we do in French titled Vichy France. We are so lucky to have this resource in Pittsburgh. I remember calling the center seven years ago, and inquiring about a French-speaking survivor to talk to my classes. I was very happy when someone called me at the Holocaust Center, letting me know that they had someone. Every year since then, they have worked with me, allowing me to bring the lesson on Vichy Regime in France to life.
I teach about the Holocaust to high school students. The Holocaust Center has proven to be a much needed resource to add reality to our reading. My students are from a very non-Jewish part of Pennsylvania, so we've invited a survivor to speak, and attended last year's Writing Seminar. There was a survivor there as well, and the students participated in the writing and art response (2 of my students won!) I will continue to look to the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh as a resource.
The Holocaust Center is a vital part of the vibrant Jewish community in Squirrel Hill. It provides a plethora of diverse services and programs that are informative. If you have not attended an event I suggest that you do so.
The Holocaust Center provides a much needed service to members of the West Pennsylvania Jewish community as well as to key communal figures and authorities in genocide prevention education and awareness towards Antisemitism and the horrendous atrocities that accompanied it throughout history. The center is one of the most advanced institutions on the East Coast in the way they present their curriculum and educate the community.