Leadership at the speaker training event: top row, L-R: Hy Penn, Houston Holocaust Museum; Diane Jacobs, DOHS chair; Steve Fintel, DOHS; front row, l-r: Simon Wellner, DOHS; Lucy Katz, DOHS; Sandy Lessig, Houston Holocaust Museum; Linda Cox, DOHS. Credit: Geri Joskowitz 

By Linda Aronovsky Cox

The Descendants of Holocaust Survivors in Central Texas is growing and becoming more active in honoring those who were lost and preserving the memories of those who survived. The group engages descendants and the broader community through educational programs and meaningful activities.

Speaker Training Empowers Descendants to Share Their Stories

A recent two-day training program equipped Second and Third Generation descendants of Holocaust survivors to share their families’ stories and connect more deeply with their history— helping honor loved ones and combat antisemitism.

Presented at the Dell Jewish Community Campus and led by longtime Houston Holocaust Museum speakers and docents Sandi Lessig and Hy Penn, the training showed participants how to use personal narratives as powerful educational tools. More than 20 DOHS members took part.

A second half-day session featured Dr. J.E. Wolfson, state coordinator of education for the Texas Holocaust, Genocide, and Antisemitism Advisory Commission, who addressed common Holocaust myths and misperceptions. Steve Fintel, DOHS Planning Committee member and tech expert, presented on creating compelling digital presentations.

Additional training will include an online course through a national organization affiliated with the Shoah Foundation that the DOHS is collaborating with. The goal is to begin community outreach— Jewish and non-Jewish—before Holocaust Remembrance Day in January 2026.

Claudia Loewenstein Shares Her Family’s Story for Yom HaShoah at Shalom Austin

Claudia Loewenstein, member of the DOHS planning committee, shared the gripping and intimate account of her parents and their perilous escape from Nazi Germany after suffering persecution and trauma, to Chile, where she was born and raised. She developed the presentation after extensive research, learning about prominent members of her family in Germany who were murdered. The presentation focused on those who risked their lives to help Jews, and the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable adversity.

Child Survivor Lucy Katz Shares Holocaust Story in Georgetown for Yom HaShoah

Lucy Katz, Holocaust educator, longtime DOHS Planning Committee member, and appointee to the Texas Holocaust, Genocide, and Antisemitism Advisory Commission, spoke to a standing-room-only audience at the Georgetown Public Library for Yom HaShoah, hosted by Congregation Havurah Shalom. She shared her miraculous survival story as an infant hidden by strangers while most of her very large family was murdered. Her message emphasized gratitude for those who risked everything to save her and underscored timeless lessons of courage, hope, acceptance, and the power of individual action to help repair the world that continues even today.

Descendants Meet with US Holocaust Memorial Museum Leader

Members of Descendants of Holocaust Survivors in Central Texas attended a private informal program at Shalom Austin in March on “The US Holocaust Memorial Museum — why it continues to matter,” with Jed Silberg, associate chief and development officer at the Museum. Silberg asked to meet with our group to discuss our descendants’ community and programming opportunities, while he was in town for meetings with Shalom Austin and community leaders.

DOHS is for Second Generation (children) and Third Generation (grandchildren) of Holocaust survivors. For more information, contact [email protected]. To join the email list (open to anyone), contact [email protected].