Arizona Jewish Historical Society

09/03/2026

Before the High Holidays begin, teshuvah gives us something to sit with. ✡️

A chance to pause, reflect, repair, and enter the new year with more intention. 🍎🕯️

🎶: SoulProdMusic

09/02/2026

Join us for a special event featuring author and Assistant Attorney General Adena Bernstein and Ambassador Edward O’Donnell. This special conversation will delve into N**i looted art, the legal case for restitution, and its impact on international affairs over the last 80 years. Advanced registration required: https://azjhs.org/event/stolen-legacies-a-conversation-on-nazi-looted-art-and-its-restitution/

📅 September 17, 2026
⌚️ 7:00pm

Join Assistant Attorney General Adena Bernstein and Ambassador Edward O’Donnell for a compelling discussion on N**i-looted art and restitution. Combining perspectives from legal prosecution and four decades in diplomatic service, the speakers explore restitution cases, legal precedents, and intern...

09/02/2026

A month later, these photos still bring us right back to Jewish Community Day at the Diamondbacks, where community members filled the ballpark, united in Jewish pride. 🌵

From familiar faces in the stands to new connections made throughout the day, the event captured the joy of showing up together and celebrating Jewish life in Arizona.

⚾ Read more about the event: https://bit.ly/3UbXnjr

📸: Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix, Arizona Diamondbacks

08/31/2026

The High Holidays are just around the corner. 🍎🍯

Now is the time to mark your calendar, start thinking through your observance plans, and make any needed arrangements with work, school, travel, or family.

Save this post for reference, and tag someone who may need these dates too. ✡️

08/25/2026

🗓️ Save the date for a meaningful evening of celebration, community, and Jewish heritage. The Heritage Award Gala will honor Mel Kessler and Gail Fisher on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 5:30 pm. Guests will enjoy an evening featuring entertainment by Francine Reed and kosher-certified cuisine as we celebrate those helping carry Arizona’s Jewish history forward.

👉🏻 Interested in attending, sponsoring, or celebrating with us? https://bit.ly/4xOwAbs

08/24/2026

In the middle of unimaginable cruelty, Oskar Knoblauch experienced a moment that almost didn’t feel real. A Gestapo officer arranged for Oskar, his sister, and his brother to visit Camp Watzow with their father to see their mother. For a brief moment, they were together again.

Not freedom or safety. Just a fragile, emotional reunion in a world determined to tear families apart.

Moments like this remind us that real people and real families lived this history, and their testimonies still call on us to listen. 🕯️

🎥: Edutainment Learning

08/21/2026

Some advice just stays with you forever. For Vivian Ullman Klein, that wisdom came from her parents, Gerda Weissmann Klein and Kurt Klein. 🤍

Gerda survived the Holocaust. Kurt was the American soldier who helped liberate her. Their story is incredible, but what really stands out is the life they built after, rooted in hope, resilience, and showing up for others.

In this clip, Vivian shares the lessons they passed down to her, including the reminder that even in the darkest moments, we still have the power to bring a little more light into the world.

Take a moment and listen. 🕊️

08/20/2026

On August 20, 1941, the first Jewish prisoners arrived at Drancy, an internment camp in a suburb of Paris that would become the major transit camp for the deportation of Jews from France.

French authorities administered and guarded Drancy under German control until the German Security Police and Security Service took direct control in July 1943. Between 1941 and 1944, tens of thousands of Jews were imprisoned at Drancy. Approximately 64,000 Jews were deported from the camp, the vast majority to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Fewer than 2,000 survived.

Among them was Rajzel Rozencwajg, mother of local Holocaust survivor Charlotte Adelman.

Charlotte’s parents tried to protect Charlotte and her brother Max by placing them in an orphanage in Paris. During a visit to Charlotte, her parents were arrested by the Germans and sent to Drancy. They were scheduled for deportation to Auschwitz on August 31, 1942. Charlotte’s father escaped before the train departed, but her mother, Rajzel, was deported to Auschwitz and did not return.

Charlotte survived the Holocaust in hiding and was eventually reunited with her father after the war.

Charlotte’s story reminds us that Holocaust history lives in individual lives, names, families, and testimonies. As we remember the thousands who passed through Drancy, we also remember Rajzel by name and honor the story her daughter Charlotte has carried forward. 🕯

08/19/2026

We are thrilled to partner with Hebrew High of Greater Phoenix for a brand-new class for 9-10th grade students! Students will explore Holocaust history through local survivor testimony AND get a unique behind-the-scenes look at what it means to build an education center and connect people with history today. Limited space remains - be sure to sign up ahead of our first class on August 25! https://bjephoenix.org/hebrew-high/classes/

08/18/2026

Meet our 2026 Heritage Gala honorees! Mel Kessler and Gail Fisher have dedicated their lives to family, community, and service. Through their longstanding involvement with the Arizona Jewish Historical Society, Temple Emanuel of Tempe, Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe Leadership, and the Tempe Arts Commission (among many other organizations!), they have built a legacy of visionary civic leadership.

Join us as we celebrate Mel and Gail on November 8. Learn more about sponsorship and support opportunities, and we'll see you there! https://azjhs.org/heritage-gala-2026/