Yizkor Books: Narratives of Memory and Resilience of a Lost Jewish World

Featuring Jane Ziegelman Written primarily by Holocaust survivors, yizkor books were created to memorialize the Jewish towns—known as shtetls, in Yiddish—once scattered across Eastern Europe. Yizkor books documented both the day-to-day culture that was characteristic of these communities, and their destruction during World War II. Join Jane Ziegelman, author of Once There Was a Town: The Memory Books of a Lost Jewish World, for a discussion about the history and substance of these remarkable books, as both testaments to the power of remembering and to the resilience of a people who refused to be forgotten. This event is part of the 2026-27 Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Colloquium, “Storytelling in/as Resistance.” **To attend in person: In person programs take place at the KHC unless noted otherwise. Events are free and open to all, but registration ahead of time is required and visitors must show ID upon entering the campus at Queensborough Community College (QCC). On site parking is available and for directions to QCC’s campus, please visit https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/about/index.html#gettingHere. For elevator access, enter the QCC Administration building and follow signs for the Kupferberg Holocaust Center.