October 2025: The Generations After Newsletter | |
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The Generations After joins Israel and the Jewish community around the world in celebrating the return of the surviving hostages. We wish them refuah shleima as they rejoin their families and begin the process of recovering from their harrowing ordeal. We mourn with the families of those murdered hostages whose remains were returned and urge the return of the bodies of all the slain hostages for a rightful burial in Israel.
The High Holidays have given us much to reflect upon with friends and family. We hope you will also take note of Gen After’s Annual Fall Membership Drive. If you haven’t already done so, please visit our website at genafterdc.org to renew or create a new membership. It’s a wonderful way to stay connected, not only to our local Jewish community here in the DMV, but also to the larger Jewish community worldwide. Just last month, some Gen After members travelled to Paris to attend the conference held by the World Federation of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants. (See article below.)
We hope you will join us at our upcoming Kristallnacht event online on November 9 (details below) and our in-person Membership Party and Annual Meeting on December 7.
All our best wishes for a healthy, happy, and peaceful 5786!
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Olimpia Nowicka-Sulla
Vice President
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- Generations After Events and Updates -
| | UPCOMING: Book Group Meeting, October 19, 2025, 10:30 AM ET | | |
Our next book will be The Light Through the Storm by Margalit Ganor. A Jewish family flees Nazi-occupied Romania in 1942 and faces a subsequent shipwreck and capture in a foreign land. Dr. Leon Schmelzer's faith and courage are pushed to the limits as he strives to save his wife and daughter amidst hatred and adversity.
The author is a member of Dorot Hahemshech, the 2G Israeli organization that has partnered and helped plan our three joint programs in the aftermath of October 7.
RSVP to 2ndgenbookgroup@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link.
| | UPCOMING: Speakers' Bureau Meeting, October 26, 2025, 10:00 AM ET | | Members will share highlights from the talks they have given in the past year—what was effective and what wasn't. We will provide details about our free, in-person December 10th Teach the Shoah workshop with TTS Executive Director Dr. Deborah Fripp and Director of Holocaust Scholarship Lynne Feldman. Register to receive the Zoom link. | | UPCOMING: Kristallnacht Commemoration, November 9, 2025, 2:00 PM | | Kristallnacht: Could It Happen Again? What Should We Do? | | |
Given the increasingly toxic antisemitic atmosphere in the United States and around the world, we are raising questions about this year's Kristallnacht commemoration: Could Kristallnacht happen today, and, if so, what can the second-generation community do to prevent it?
To grapple with these questions, we have assembled a fascinating panel. Professor Michael Brenner of American University is a historian renowned for his expertise in German history, and Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, is a major force in fighting antisemitism who successfully sued the Nazi hate groups behind the Charlottesville Unite the Right march. The moderator will be Dr. Peter Gengler, a historian at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum with expertise in modern German and East European cultural, political, and military history.
Register for the Zoom program to receive the link.
| | UPCOMING: Join a Gen After Writing Group! | | |
Currently, Generations After has openings in Writing Group 3, led by Tommy Schnurmacher. Tommy, himself a 2G, is an experienced writing group facilitator, memoir-writing workshop leader, and published author. Writing Group 3 will meet 7–9 PM on Tuesday evenings on 10/21, 11/4, 11/18, 12/2, 12/16, and 12/30.
Writing Group 2, with Gina Roitman, has already begun its Fall session, which runs through the end of October. There may be openings in her workshops for the following session. Meetings are normally held on Wednesday afternoons. Learn more about the writing groups.
Participants must be members of The Generations After and pay the Group registration fee prior to the first session. Join or renew on our website.
Dates may be subject to change. For more information, please email Writing Groups Coordinator Dena Hirsh.
| | ONGOING: Meaningful B'nai Mitzvah Commemorations | | |
Gen After's Remember A Child (RAC) program pairs young b'nai mitzvah as well as adult students with children who perished during the Shoah before they were able to have their own bar or bat mitzvah celebration. Participants receive a scroll of remembrance, biography, and links for additional information about the child matched to them. More than 800 b'nai mitzvah students have enriched their milestone simchas by participating in this meaningful program. Visit the RAC website page or contact RAC Coordinator Barbara Brandys for details at rac@genafterdc.org.
| | Join or Renew During Our Annual Fall Membership Drive! | | Individual member dues are $36, and family memberships are $54. Your generous support will help us keep you and the 2G community engaged and informed and ensure that the legacy of the Shoah is never forgotten. | | |
Sign up, or send
your check to:
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The Generations After
P. O. Box 2121
Rockville, MD 20847
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Gen After Newsletter Submission Deadline
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Send your Gen After Newsletter Items by the 23rd of Each Month
Do you know of an event or news item that the Generations After community needs to learn about? Please email it by the 15th of the month along with a very short description to genafter@genafterdc.org. Our Communication Committee will review it and, if possible, publish it in the upcoming issue.
| | UPCOMING: Monthly Support Gatherings for 2Gs | | Groups will resume in November for second-generation descendants of Holocaust survivors. Join monthly gatherings facilitated by Dr. Irit Felsen and Dr. Jenni Frumer. These sessions, hosted by Holocaust Learning Experience, are more than meetings—they are a safe, informal space for connection, mutual support, and engaging dialogue. Each gathering offers a chance to unite with others who share a unique bond, exchange meaningful insights, and strengthen our collective resilience. While the program was paused over the summer, it will start up again in November. Check back for registration information. | | RECAP: 2025 WFJHS&D Conference Highlights in Paris, France | | |
World Federation of Jewish Holocaust Survivors & Descendants
September 12–15
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WFJHS&D sponsored an extraordinary 35th annual gathering of survivors and descendants to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Europe. Over 300 survivors, second- and third-generation descendants gathered from around the globe, including 100 survivors from Eastern Europe and France, thanks to a German grant. The group was greeted by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo; the head of the Memorial de la Shoah, Edmund de Rothschild; and a very special address by Beate and Serge Klarsfeld, the renowned Nazi hunters. Plenaries focused on the wartime history of France, the actions descendants are currently taking to fight antisemitism, psychological issues for descendants, and many others. Attendees shared experiences during workshops and danced together Saturday and Sunday evenings. Many joined the post-conference trips to Drancy, the Jewish Quarter, and the Memorial de la Shoah.
Next year the conference will be in Philadelphia, tentatively on October 12-15, 2026.
When conference videos are available, we will share the links in the newsletter.
| | A mix of generations and nationalities gather in Paris. | |  | A presentation on post-war Poland from the Warsaw Polin Museum | | | |
Holocaust Survivors–The Last Generation
Child survivors meet the third Sunday of each month. Join the Zoom call or contact Ayana Touval for more information.
3GDC Group
Learn about DC, Maryland, and Virginia 3rd Generation activities on the 3G Facebook page.
Resources to Address Antisemitism
Listing of several organizations that can assist in addressing antisemitic incidents.
Jewish Records Indexing-Poland (JRI-Poland)
JRI-Poland seeks volunteers to help make important family records available. Contact volunteers@jri-poland.org.
Arolsen Archive Project "Every Name Counts"
“Every Name Counts” aspires to make available every name contained in the online archive. Help digitize names into the massive and vital Arolsen Archive. Learn more at the Arolsen Archive website or #everynamecounts.
Generations of the Shoah, International (GSI)
GSI newsletters list hundreds of Holocaust-related events, conferences, lectures, books, and resources from around the world at www.genshoah.org.
Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (JFR)
JFR supports those who rescued Jewish victims during the Shoah. Learn more and sign up for newsletters.
New Resource:
Campus for All, powered by Hillel International
Hillel has launched a fully interactive Campus Antisemitism Data Hub on Campus4All.org where you can use dynamic graphs and charts to search, compare, explore, and analyze antisemitic incidents on campus from 2014 to 2025 — all tracked by the experts and dedicated team at Hillel International.
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