CHAIM is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing an important learning experience that can be brought to communities to help their efforts to increase awareness of the Holocaust, to learn ways to fight hate, and to promote compassion and tolerance.
Our Motto & Key Questions: WAKE UP
Our Vision
Iris Bendahan had two vivid childhood memories of the Holocaust.
One was her grandmother’s repeated mention of the phrase “Yimah Shemo”, which means ‘may his name be erased’, every time she spoke about her family. Iris eventually understood that she was referring to Adolf Hitler and that her grandmother had lost her entire family (her parents, and 6 siblings and their children) at his hands. Around that time, Iris was living in Israel and her elementary school put together a small make-shift museum in honor of Yom HaShoah; this gave her another insight into the Holocaust.
30 years later, these memories inspired her to begin the creation of a small Holocaust museum to help teach about the Holocaust to the students of her synagogue religious school. Students and parents were so taken by the exhibit, that she enlarged it a bit every year. Eventually, she started inviting other groups to visit. However, many found it difficult to set up a field trip so only those schools walking distance from the synagogue were able to come.
This sparked the idea that a travelling exhibit might be the best way to bring a museum experience to the many communities who could not afford a field trip to a Holocaust museum.
Iris decided to put together a group of people who had interest in Holocaust education to help bring the idea to fruition. Many of us are children of survivors and, like Iris, would love a way to honor the memories of our families. The creation of a mobile, Holocaust education exhibit would be a wonderful, and important memorial. In addition, in 2017 Iris was awarded the Morris Weiss Award through the JFCS Holocaust Center in San Francisco. This gave her some seed money to purchase some simple display pieces that helped convert the temporary, stationary exhibit to a more mobile one. We are now working to get grants to professionalize the exhibit so it can travel to local Bay Area communities, and eventually beyond, and perform its important mission of using the Holocaust as a lens for teaching TACT: Treating others with Acceptance, Compassion, and Tolerance.
Our Motto & Key Questions
Our Call to Action is “WAKE UP”:
W WITNESS Be a witness by telling the stories of survival and rescue.
“As the Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel warned years ago, to forget a holocaust is to kill twice.” ― Iris Chang, The Rape of Nanking
A ACT Show those around you how to Act with TACT- Treat with Acceptance, Compassion and Tolerance, to stop the path to hate.
“I think tolerance and acceptance and love is something that feeds every community.” - Lady Gaga
K KNOW Now that you know the facts, you can counteract those who might try to deny or minimize the atrocities committed during the Holocaust.
“Misunderstanding arising from ignorance breeds fear, and fear remains the greatest enemy of peace.” – Lester B. Pearson
E EMPATHIZE Show empathy for those suffering. Listen to both sides of a story.
“Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It's the impetus for creating change.” -Max Carver
U UPSTAND An upstander stands up against injustice and intolerance in respectful and non-violent ways. “Don’t stand idly by”.
“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch and don’t do anything” – Albert Einstein
P PREVENT The persecution of any minority is the first step towards genocide.
Work to make the world a better place; support groups that promote dialog with respect and compassion. The power lies within each of us to … rise together against hate. To show the world who we are. And to restore the soul of America together. - The U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism
Aim to be able to answer these key questions after your visit to CHAIM:
Portal 1 CHAIM is a call to Remembrance & Action
Why should we study the Holocaust?
Portal 2 Jewish life before WWII
Where did Jews come from? How long have they been battling antisemitism?
Portal 3 The rise of the Nazis
How could an anti-democratic party, win in a democracy?
Portal 4 Kristallnacht
Why was Kristallnacht successful?
Portal 5 Persecution
In what ways were Jews persecuted?
Portal 6 Deportation
How did the Nazis manage to deport millions of people?
Portal 7 The Final Solution
What methods did the Final Solution use to accomplish its goal?
Portal 8 Resistance
What were some forms of resistance to the Nazi “killing machine”?
Portal 9 Liberation
Why did it take so long to end the war and liberate the camps?
Portal 10 Where to now?
Where could Jews go after the war?
Portal 11 Justice
Is justice for a crime so big possible? How was it attempted?
Portal 12 Fighting Hate
How can we fight hate and keep our society a compassionate one?
Portal 13 Art as Witness
How did/does art bear witness to the crimes committed by the Nazis?
Portal 14 Being a Witness
How can we be witnesses to what happened and prevent denial years later?
Portal 15 Memorials and Museums
Can memorials and museums help us keep our society compassionate?
Portal 16 Rebuilding Lost Communities
Why was/is rebuilding Jewish communities in Europe so difficult?
Portal 17 Children
How did children survive then? How should they be taught about this today?
Portal 18 Debrief & Education
How can you use the Wake Up motto to educate our society and keep our society compassionate?