A Los Angeles-based program that brings Holocaust survivors into classrooms and to community events to share their stories in an effort to counter antisemitism and bigotry is set to expand, officials announced Thursday.
Living Links, billed as the first national organization to engage and empower third-generation descendants of Holocaust survivors, will be partnering with USC Shoah Foundation to expand the program and bolster its speaker training efforts. According to Robert Williams, executive director and chair of the foundation, the partnership comes at a moment of “urgency and peril,” when antisemitism is being normalized throughout society.
The foundation will also provide a lead gift of $1 million toward a program budget of $5 million over the next three years.
In 2023, nearly a dozen independent third-generation groups that had formed over the last decade joined to create Living Links, a national network that offers grandchildren of Holocaust survivors social, educational and advocacy opportunities in a supportive environment that honors and explores their common and complex legacies, officials said.
An estimated 1 million grandchildren of Holocaust survivors live in the United States, according to Living Links.
“My parents’ generation — the children of survivors — were often afraid to ask questions about their parents’ experience, or unwilling to dredge up wartime pain,” David Wachs, co-founder and co-president of Living Links, said in a statement. “Sharing this unique thread of my identity is a powerful way for me to connect with others and to make a lasting impact.”
The nonprofit 3GNY founded the program in 2010 and has trained some 500 speakers and reached 60,000 students over the years.
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The USC Shoah Foundation is marking its 30th anniversary, and helps connect descendants of Holocaust survivors, especially the families of the more than 55,000 survivors who recorded testimony for its Visual History Archive.
“We are thrilled to partner with the USC Shoah Foundation because we share the goals of preserving the memory of the Holocaust and building a better future,” Jennifer Loew Mendelson, co-founder and co-president of Living Links, said in a statement. “Their organizational expertise, networks, and expert guidance will ensure Living Links’ success in becoming a vibrant, independent organization.”