I remember reading The Diary of Anne Frank as a tween and being drawn to her positivity and hopefulness despite the constant fear of discovery. Later, in college, I read Dr. Victor Frankl’s memoir Man’s Search for Meaning for a psychology class. That book, with its theme of finding purpose and using that purpose to give oneself the strength to keep going in the face of unimaginable odds, was another huge inspiration for me. These two books heavily influenced my development as an advocate for human rights and a proud Jewish woman. They also led me to form a deep interest in preserving and passing on Jewish history, especially Holocaust history. Eventually, this led me to Holocaust storytelling.

My storytelling journey began with these two books, but it did not end there. Teaching our history protects it from being erased. According to the Claims Conference, the organization that manages material claims against Germany for Nazi atrocities, there were only 220,800 Holocaust survivors still alive as of April 2025. As a result, we, as a society, are rapidly running out of time to record our history for future generations while there is still someone alive who experienced that history and remembers it. This is one part of what inspires me to tell stories of the Holocaust.

Additionally, this method of preserving our stories and keeping them alive works. How do I know? Because when I joined Teach the Shoah in 2020 it was a brand new, mostly local, all volunteer organization. Six years later, this tiny community of storytellers has become a worldwide organization, with a large storyteller bureau and frequent classes and workshops. There are presentations at synagogues, churches, libraries, schools, museums, and more. That success is the other part of what inspires me, gives me hope, and restores a little of my faith in humanity.

Ultimately, I take to heart the words of Dr. Frankl, who famously said, “Everything can be taken from a [person] but one thing; the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” I have chosen to use education and storytelling to pass down an important part of Jewish history to the next generation, so that we truly will “never forget.” It is my hope that, in doing so, I inspire others to do the same.