IHE NEWS

SUMMER 2024

Our goal is to ensure that the tragedy and history of the Holocaust are remembered, that appropriate, fact-based instruction and materials are available to students, educators, and the public to enable them to learn the lessons of the Holocaust and that, as a result, we inspire our community to create a more just and equitable society. 

Photography by David Radler

Fred was born in Antwerp in 1938. At the age of four, his mother had the strength and the insight to send him out of the train station before deportation in hope of saving his life. He was found wandering the streets and ultimately hidden in a convent in Weisenbeck. Fred's parents did not survive, but he reconnected with relatives and went to Canada after the war. Fred and his wife Sara settled in Omaha in 1974 and raised a family.

Fred commented, "People should learn to be kind and find ways to support one another in this world."

Dr. Fred Jeruzalski Kader passed away on June 19, 2024 at age 85 in Omaha. He was preceded in death by his birth family who perished in the Holocaust: father Jakob Jeruzalski, mother Basza Ryvka Krysztal, brothers Ignace Jeruzalski, Paul Jeruzalski, Jules Jeruzalski, half-brother Felix Jeruzalski and half-sister Rachel Gitel Jeruzalski. After the war he was raised by his adopted father and mother, Abraham Chiam and Sarah Baila Kader, brothers Phil Kader, Nathan Kader, David Kader, Sam Kader, Louis Kader, Moe Kader, David Kader and sister Ruthie Kumec.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Sarah (nee Brona) Kader of Omaha; his children: Howard Kader (Lori) of Ellicott City, MD, Eileen Clignett (Edwin) of Omaha, and Darrin Kader (Karen) of Omaha; grandchildren: Joseph (Katie) and Emily Kader, Brittney and Jason Clignett, Lindsey and Jeremy Kader, Ashley (Matt) McNeal as well as several special nieces and nephews.

Fred enjoyed ice skating, attending the College World Series, UNO Maverick Hockey games but most importantly spending quality time with family and friends. He received numerous honors and awards such as the Master Teacher Award in 1973 at the University of British Columbia Vancouver; the Earl Siegel Award in 2001 by the Beth El Synagogue, and the Pediatric Legends award from the Children’s Hospital of Omaha in 2018. His most meaningful activity in his later years was his involvement in the Institute for Holocaust Education spending countless hours teaching children and adults in the local and regional communities about his experience in and aftermath of the Holocaust.

May his memory be for a blessing. For Fred's full obituary, click HERE.

Reflections from our Executive Director

IHE Executive Director, Scott Littky had the opportunity to travel between Israel, Germany, and Poland during the month of July. Scott traveled to Israel to attend the 11th International Conference for Educators at Yad Vashem. 150 educators from around the world participated in this biannual conference in Jerusalem. The focus of this year’s conference was on Holocaust Education in a Global Context.

Scott then traveled to Germany and Poland to participate for a 3rd time with the Creighton Law School’s program, Nuremberg to the Hague (N2H). This program gave law students the opportunity to learn firsthand about the Holocaust in Nuremberg, Dachau, Auschwitz, among others. By combining classroom instruction with field trips to actual crime scenes, places of conspiracy and current trials, students were exposed to an unprecedented array of historical and legal experiences. 

Scott shared his reflections on his trip with Annette van de Kamp-Wright, Jewish Press editor for a future article. Some of Scott's reflections were:

• The personal narrative – these were individual Jews who were killed and to understand the magnitude of what was lost. There were 3.5 million Jews in Poland at the start of the Holocaust and today there are 16 thousand.
• To learn empathy, understanding and to act as an upstander. To learn from the Holocaust the importance of their role as lawyers to be there for their clients.
• To understand the role of the Righteous and their obligation to a moral code and to stand up and make a change. In Jewish terms that they need to be devoted to Tikkun Olam.

Thank you to the Michael Staenberg Family Foundation for generously providing the support for IHE to participate in the N2H program.

Thursday, September 19 - Dr. Adina Newman, EdD, the creator of My Family Genie, is a professional genealogist and educator who will present on L’Dor V’Dor: Using DNA to Reunite Holocaust Survivors. We know the power and potential of DNA testing to find family and uncover long buried family secrets. The DNA Reunion Project at the Center for Jewish History is using DNA technology to help reunite Holocaust survivors with living relatives and their history. In this presentation, Dr. Adina Newman shows how genetic genealogy benefits the Holocaust survivor community, with examples of how DNA has provided closure and led to heartwarming reunions.

Thursday, November 21 – Amanda Friedeman, Associate Director of Education at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center will present and discuss the graphic novel Hour of Need: The Daring Escape of the Danish Jews During World War II. Hour of Need tells the true story of the resistance to Nazi rule in Denmark during World War II and the heroes that saved the Danish Jews by helping them evacuate to Sweden.

To RSVP and gain access to the Zoom information for any of these IHE Third Thursday lunch and Learn programs, please reach out to Scott Littky, Executive Director of IHE, at slittky@ihene.org

UPCOMING PROGRAMING

Thursday, September 19 - Nebraska Teacher Inservice Focusing on Holocaust Education and Primary Sources

The UNL Harris Center for Judaic Studies offers a Nebraska Teacher Inservice Focusing on Holocaust Education and Primary Sources Thursday, September 19, 2024 University of Nebraska-Lincoln @ Nebraska Union from 4:00 - 8:00 PM. Dinner included! 

This Inservice will explore resources from the Nebraska Stories of Humanity: Holocaust Survivors & WWII Veterans Network Portal & Educational Website in partnership with the Teaching with Primary Sources, Midwest Region facilitators, a program funded by the Library of Congress. Together, we will learn about using the Library of Congress online materials and create hands-on tools to integrate these and our community partners’ materials into your classroom curricula. Open to all content areas educators who incorporate Holocaust studies and primary sources in their teaching materials.

Campus or near-Campus paid parking. (Info to follow in registration.) Program will be recorded and shared following the event upon request.

Registration is required and closes on September 12 at 5:00 pm.

Apply for participant and travel stipend.

Learn more and how to register and apply for the participant and travel stipend HERE.

Thursday, October 6 - 7 PM in the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater at the Jewish Community Center in Omaha, NE.

"Most of us have more good thoughts than we have bad ones, and all we have to do is to follow the good thoughts. The handicap is that often the good thoughts are not followed by required action."

-David Kaufmann, accepting 1934 Grand Island Service Award

Join us in the showing A Life Well Lived: David Kaufmann Documentary. The 50-minute documentary will tell the story of David Kaufmann and his work to save families from the Holocaust. This documentary examines how Kaufmann quietly sponsored and saved the lived of approximately 200 Jews escaping Germany after Kristallnacht (1938). Kaufmann never spoke publicly about this important humanitarian work during his lifetime. However, the families who were saved due to his actions taken in Grand Island, Nebraska never forgot what he had done for them and the generations that followed.

There is no charge to attend, please RSVP to reserve a ticket at info@ihene.org

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