Alexander Kuelchel, a survivor of the Holocaust, was born in Berlin, Germany to parents who originally came from Poland. He attended a Christian school until Adolf Hitler came into power, then he was moved to a private school that had a synagogue in the back.
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."
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.