by George J Elbaum

The JFCS Holocaust Center jointly with Marin County Office of Education organized an online community workshop on Confronting Antisemitism, which was followed by my presentation.  The audience of 81 who registered for the workshop included 6 educators, 20 high school students, and while most were from California, there were registrants from Florida, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Oregon, Arizona, Washington, Maryland and Pennsylvania, and even from Australia and Malaysia. 

Audience questions included many that have been asked often after my talks, such as “Have you encountered people who believe that the Holocaust did not occur?  What would you say to those people?”, to which I re-told my lengthy answer #99 in “Student Questions” on my website www.neitheryesterdays.com”, and also a new (for me) question “Is education enough?”.  My opinion: since Nazi Germany was perhaps the most educated country in the world in 1939, education clearly does not make us any more humane. 

The event was organized by JFCS Holocaust Center Director, Morgan Blum Schneider, and its Education & Marketing Manager, Penny Savryn, with assistance from Veronica Siegel, its Administrative Program Coordinator.