These digital records from 2009 to 2015 were mainly created by Esther Finder in her work as president of Generations of the Shoah - Nevada. Materials include correspondence, articles and essays, meeting agendas and notes, photographs, drafts of speeches, fliers, informational documents, planning documents for conferences and events, and Holocaust education materials. Also included are emails sent and recieved by Finder, which function as the organization's main method of communication, in lieu of a printed newsletter.
Archival Collection
Generations of the Shoah - Nevada Records
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Collection Number: MS-00720 Collection Name: Generations of the Shoah - Nevada Records Box/Folder: Digital File 00
The Generations of the Shoah - Nevada (GS-N) records (approximately 2001-2020) are mainly comprised of meeting notes, correspondence, fliers, event programs, speeches, planning documents, scrapbooks, exhibit panels, and educational materials created by GS-N president Esther Finder and collaborators in the Las Vegas, Nevada Jewish community and the international Holocaust education and remembrance community. The collection also includes personal stories of Holocaust survivors and their families, which are recorded in virtual books, publications, videotaped interviews, and Las Vegas, Nevada filmmaker Brett Levner's videos: Holocaust Survivors Reflect and Passing the Torch.
An essay by Esther Toporek Finder accompanying the photographs describes the event: "Holocaust survivors, along with Clark County students and teachers, sat down to break matzo and bread together at Las Vegas? first Holocaust Education Seder Sunday (April 6) at the Rio Hotel. Three generations from the survivor community gathered with middle and high school students and teachers from elementary, middle, and high schools. The leader for the traditional portion of the service was Rabbi Sanford Akselrad and the Shoah segments were led by Professor Esther Finder. Kevin Janison, from MyNews3, served as host and MC. Both Finder and Janison are children of Holocaust survivors. Ray Fiol lit candles on behalf of the approximately six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and a 7th candle to represent the non-Jewish victims of Nazi atrocity. Music was provided by Cantorial Soloist Lola Rivera. Educator and librarian Susan Dubin shared original poetry as part of the blessing after the meal. Participants dined on foods traditional for Passover: matzo ball soup, roasted chicken with matzo kugel, tsimmis and a non-dairy chocolate dessert."
Esther Toporek Finder is a professor of psychology and has lived in Las Vegas, Nevada since 2010. She was born May 28, 1953, in Chicago, Illinois, and moved to Washington D.C. in 1979 after graduating with her Masters from the University of Chicago. While in Washington D.C, Finder was able to jump start her career as an oral historian recording Holocaust survivor stories with the U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Shoah Foundation. Esther Finder is a second generation Holocaust survivor. Her passion for Holocaust education and its representation in society has led her to many opportunities to teach, facilitate, educate, create and contribute to many survivor oriented groups such as The Generation After where she was President for 15 years, the Holocaust Era Assets Conference as representation of the American survivor community, as well as the creation of the Generations of the Shoah International group in October 2002. When Finder moved to Las Vegas, she quickly and deeply involved herself in the Las Vegas Holocaust survivor community. She has been integral with Nellis Air Force Base?s Days of Remembrance, the opening the Generations of Shoah Nevada Chapter, and partnering with the World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust and Descendants to bring conferences to the Las Vegas Valley. In addition, she has been an organizer of commemoration programs for students attending UNLV and schools within the Clark County School District. Her involvement with the Governor?s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust and the television series Eyewitness to History have highlighted the Holocaust survivors living in Las Vegas. In this interview, Finder discusses her childhood as well as the paths that led her to realize her passion for the Holocaust survivor community and her deep association with the community. She shares her experiences interviewing survivors and second generation survivors giving a deeper insight into the stories that they have shared with her over the years. In addition, she reflects on her long reach within the survivor community and brings to light the foundation of family being a survivor gives. Finder highlights the traveling, teaching and community service opportunities she has had over the years while enlightening people about the importance of countering hate through education.
Norma Morrow Zuckerman is the driving force behind the Jewish Repertory Theatre of Nevada [JRTN], an organization she co-founded with Charlene Sher in 2010. The endeavor coincided with Norma’s pursuit of an MFA at UNLV a couple of years prior. With the commitment to her studies and to bring professional Jewish theatrical performances to Las Vegas, her energetic personality intensified. In 2007, she performed in The Diary of Anne Frank and noted the audience was supporting Jewish Family Services Agency. Norma could sense the community’s eagerness for professional theatre and she was just the one to deliver it. Over the following years, JRTN produced an array of Jewish-themed and acted plays. Since then she tries to bring The Diary of Anne Frank to the stage annually and finds partners to bring 1400 eighth graders to the performance. By 2012, her commute between Los Angeles, where she is a garment designer/manufacturer with her husband Eugene, and Las Vegas had become routine and her passion for professional theatre in Las Vegas increased. This was the year that The Smith Center for Performing Arts opened. The first theatrical production was Golda’s Balcony, a one-woman drama starring Tovah Feldshuh. It was the spectacular co-promotion by Norma’s JRTN and the Smith Center. Norma was smitten with the theatre from a young age and studied with some of the best acting coaches—Milton Kastelas, Stella Adler, Wynn Handman. In this oral history she recalls the people who have helped her, the performances that have charmed audiences and the value of live theatre.
Oral history interview with Carolyn G. and Oscar B. Goodman conducted by Claytee D. White on October 18, 2014 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. In this interview, Carolyn G. and Oscar B. Goodman discuss their early childhoods and education. They tell the story of their marriage, family life, and careers. The Goodmans go into further detail on the growth of Las Vegas, Nevada as a community as well as a tourist destination.