“Stories of Survival: An Immersive Journey Through the Holocaust”

The current exhibit, Stories of Survival: An Immersive Journey Through the Holocaust, in the Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center historic gallery, is currently open by appointment only.

For tours please contact Gallery Manager,

Mary Page mpage@azjhs.org

All contributions appreciated.

For more information: CLICK HERE. 

Surviving Humanity Series

The Art of Peace, in time of Crisis



Friday, February 9, 2024 - 12PM (MST)

Featured Guest: Former Ambassador, Edward O'Donnell

TO RSVP: CLICK HERE

Ambassador O’Donnell teaches the ASU course (Policy Design Studio POS 494 and Washington Internship POS 484) “Diplomacy in Action, the Embassy Country Team” in Washington, D.C. and launched a Master of Arts in International Affairs and Leadership.  He is a member of the ASU Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab (LDNS Lab).  He is a Professor of Practice in the School of Politics and Global Studies (SPGS) The Barrett Honors Faculty.  He teaches courses in the World War II MA program and is on the Board of the Genocide Awareness Week (2022).

Ambassador O’Donnell retired from the career U.S. Foreign Service in 2007, after 33 years in Latin America, German-speaking Europe and other positions in Washington, D.C. He served in Germany, Austria, Panama, Colombia and Paraguay, as Charge, Deputy Chief of Mission, Consul General (Principal Officer), Economic Counselor and Commercial Attaché. In Washington D.C., he was a negotiating Ambassador concentrating on Holocaust issues; a Democratic Charter for the Americas and civil aviation rights. He was Executive Assistant to three Under Secretaries and Special Assistant, Policy Planning Staff.

O’Donnell served in the Active U.S. Army Reserve for 30 years with tours in Germany, Panama and the United States. A Foreign Area Officer in Europe and Latin America, as Colonel he commanded two Military Intelligence Detachments, supporting the Defense Intelligence Agency. He was commissioned in Military Intelligence at Fort Belvoir, Engineer Officer Candidate School and was airborne-qualified.

Since retirement from the State Department, he was Senior Strategy Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security (2014-2018), Senior Mentor/Advisor to the Afghanistan Government Minister of Counter Narcotics in Kabul (2011-2014) and State Department inspector (2010 – 2011) in the Middle East Regional Office of the Inspector General. From 2009 – 2011 he was Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Congressional Relations Bureau and earlier managed the State Department Liaison Office to the House of Representatives.



Education: Ambassador O’Donnell is from Memphis, Tennessee, was graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History from Southern Methodist University, received a Master of Arts in International Studies from American University and studied economics at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

LIVE, In-Person Documentary Screenings

Documentary Film Series - Online Streaming

Jews of the Wild West

LIVE, In-Person Screenings on two days:

February 12, 2024 and February 13, 2024 at 7PM (MST Arizona)

At AZJHS - 122 E Culver Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Sponsors: Marlene and Gene Shapiro

TO RSVP: CLICK HERE

There will be no online screening of this documentary film.

This documentary focuses on an under-explored aspect of Jewish history: the role that Jews played in Western American expansion, both in real life and in the movies. Through a tapestry of archival footage, photographs, and interviews, this pioneering film entertainingly excavates the past through the stories of an array of people, from known names like Max Aronson (the real “Bronco Billy Anderson” of early Hollywood) and Levi Strauss, to some you may not have heard about, like the Prussian immigrant who became a tribal leader in New Mexico and the Sephardic painter and photographer who documented the Kansas, Colorado, and Utah territories in the 1800s. The documentary also surveys the experiences of those persecuted European Jews who picked up stakes and left the American Northeast, forging westward for better opportunities. Through the narratives of such trailblazers, and interviews with contemporary Jewish Westerners, the film tells a tale of American resilience and determination too often left out of the official history books.

Book Discussion Group

Crossings

By Alex Landragin

Discussion led by Ruth Callahan

Thursday, February 15, 2024 at 2PM (MST)

TO RSVP: CLICK HERE

Crossings is a novel in three parts, designed to be read in two different directions, spanning a hundred and fifty years and seven lifetimes. On the brink of the Nazi occupation of Paris, a German-Jewish bookbinder stumbles across a manuscript called Crossings. It has three narratives, each as unlikely as the next. And the narratives can be read one of two ways: either straight through or according to an alternate chapter sequence. The first story in Crossings is a never-before-seen ghost story by the poet Charles Baudelaire, penned for an illiterate girl. Next is a noir romance about an exiled man, modeled on Walter Benjamin, whose recurring nightmares are cured when he falls in love with a storyteller who draws him into a dangerous intrigue of rare manuscripts, police corruption, and literary societies. Finally, there are the fantastical memoirs of a woman-turned-monarch whose singular life has spanned seven generations.

Phoenix Jewish Genealogy Group

“Hidden Gems of Jewish Genealogy”

Sunday, February 18, 2024 - 1pm (ARIZONA MST)

@ AZJHS (In-Person)

122 E. Culver Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85004

TO RSVP: CLICK HERE

Jewish genealogy has many challenges but also a growing arsenal of special resources, available online, that are tuned to discovering Jewish ancestors. Jewish genealogy requires tools to overcome the challenges of doing research in multiple languages, with complicated naming conventions, and in locales that had been under often changing sovereignty. Some of these research resources are well known or easily discoverable - but many are not so obvious. This presentation is not a step-by-step “how to,” but instead will showcase more than a dozen resources that are "hidden gems" of Jewish genealogy. When we research our family history, we often get into a familiar pattern of looking for records in the same places and using the same methods. Whether an experienced researcher or one who is just starting the search for Jewish ancestors, you will find something(s) to aid your explorations - research resources that you may never have heard of or may have forgotten.

Marlis Humphrey

Marlis Humphrey is CEO and President of the L'Dor V'Dor Foundation (LDVDF), an international non-profit, and Executive Committee Chair of the Documentation of Jewish Records Worldwide (DoJR) project to build JCat, the world's most comprehensive catalog of historical documents of Jewish lives. Humphrey is a professional genealogist and serves as President of the Florida State Genealogical Society (FSGS), Past President of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS), and Director of the National Genealogical Society (NGS). She is leading the charge in bringing AI and other technology innovations to rescuing our Jewish documentary heritage.

Humphrey's expertise is growth – values-aligned and mission-aligned impact through innovation – in both the for profit and non-profit sectors. As a career technologist working for market-leading global companies, Humphrey led the largest international non-profit consortium developing standards for the telecommunications industry. Under her leadership, 900 member companies representing all segments of the industry (including competitors), collaboratively developed 200+ global implementation agreements and realized an unprecedented acceleration of achieving a $1B market goal by at least four years. Humphrey has done business in 30 countries and managed distributed teams. She has hands-on experience as a software engineer, systems architect, engineering manager, product manager, led new market development, and managed technology portfolios across dozens of high-tech domains. Humphrey holds a MS in Management of Technology and a BA in Russian.

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