LeSaper
From Survivor Memory to Living Teller
Taking up the role of Holocaust witness
LeSaper
From Survivor Memory to Living Teller
Taking up the role of Holocaust witness
At Teach the Shoah, we are racing against time to preserve the memories of Holocaust survivors.
Survivors are asking “Who will tell our stories?”
We are answering: “We will.”
LeSaper לְסַפֵּר : To Tell
Listen to survivor Vera Kestenberg respond after storyteller Acadia Schechter tells her story. (Watch the story below.)
Do you have Survivors in your community?
Their Stories, Our Future
Pass on their legacy.
Let us help preserve the memories of the survivors in your community.
Teach the Shoah is dedicated to preserving the stories of Holocaust survivors for future generations through our LeSaper project.
We understand the urgency of passing on these invaluable memories, and we are here to ensure that the stories of the survivors in your community live on.
Are you passionate about social justice?
Their Stories, Your Voice
Become a Custodian of Holocaust Memory.
We are seeking dedicated individuals aged 18 to 40 to carry the stories of Holocaust survivors to future generations. All backgrounds are welcome.
Help ensure these invaluable stories are never forgotten. Apply today and be part of a diverse community committed to making history a living memory.
Support the Lesaper Project
Preserve History, Empower Voices
Support Lesaper
By donating to Teach the Shoah’s LeSaper project, you are not only honoring the memories of those who lived through the Holocaust but also empowering the next generation to keep these stories alive.
Holocaust Museum LA Cohort
Los Angeles, Fall 2024
Our first Lesaper cohort convened in the fall of 2024: we partnered with the Holocaust Museum LA to match 8 students from universities in Arkansas with 7 survivors – 6 in LA and 1 in Washington DC.
Storyteller – Survivor Pairs
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Riley Farco – Lya Frank
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Emily Hand – Harry Davids
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Brenna Metts – Eva Nathanson
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Maddi Ruiz – Henry Weil
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Torrie Herrington – Gabriella Karin
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Sarah Dilatush – Dr. Henry Slucki
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Libby Holden & Cooper Horton – Eva Brettler
Lesaper – Beginning of a New Era, Keeping Truth and the History Alive, by sculptor Gabriella Karin, a survivor participant in the HMLA cohort. Clockwise from the top: Torrie Herrington, Riley Farco, Maddi Ruiz, Libby Holden, Cooper Horton, Emily Hand, Sarah Dilatush, Brenna Metts.
Proof of Concept: Summer 2024
Our first Lesaper storyteller Acadia Schechter tells the story of survivor Vera Kestenberg.
And Vera responds.
In the summer of 2024, we paired student intern Acadia Schechter with Baltimore-based survivor Vera Kestenberg as a proof of concept. Acadia presented her story during our Reflect/Respond Virtual Gala on September 4, 2024.
Acadia is a junior at the University of Pittsburgh studying Religious, Medieval, and Judaic Studies. She is the VP of Jewish Experiences at the UPitt Hillel Jewish Student Union and was Teach the Shoah’s Communications Intern in the Summer of 2024.
Vera was born in 1936 in Budapest, Hungary to an Orthodox couple, Felix and Clara Salzer. She hid most of WWII with Clara near Budapest. Vera was reunited after war with Felix and her brother, Michael. They remained in Hungary after the war, emigrating to Argentina in 1956 and to the United States in 1959. Vera married survivor Felix Kestenberg. She was a biochemist at Johns Hopkins University for 40 years. She is the mother of 3, the grandmother of 8, and the great-grandmother of more than 25.