July 25, 2024

After 18 years of dedicated service to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, we are writing to share that Nina Krieger will be stepping down as executive director to pursue a new opportunity in provincial politics. While she remains in the ED role, she will continue to support the Board of Directors and professional team in the months ahead.

We are pleased to announce that the current director of communications & special projects, Hannah Marazzi, has agreed to step in as the acting associate executive director, working closely with Nina during this period of transition, effective immediately. Having previously served as Special Advisor to Canada’s inaugural Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, the Honourable Irwin Cotler, Hannah brings over a decade of communications, policy, and human rights experience to the role.

During Nina’s 12-year tenure as executive director, the VHEC’s programming and impact have expanded significantly. Nina led multi-year projects to support the preservation, access and educational use of the Centre’s collections, and renewed its facilities to support visitor engagement at a moment of transition for Holocaust education and remembrance.

More recently, Nina has worked with the Board of Directors to establish a robust vision for an expanded VHEC within the context of the community-wide JWest project. She has also positioned the VHEC as a key partner in the Province of BC’s development and implementation of the mandatory Holocaust curriculum in the 2025-26 school year.

Before serving as executive director, Nina served as head of the Centre’s educational department for six years, developing exhibitions, educational programs and pedagogical resources that challenge audiences to probe the historical, cultural and ethical issues raised by the Holocaust. Her past curatorial projects include Canada Responds to the Holocaust, 1944–45, “Enemy Aliens”: The Interment of Jewish Refugees in Canada, 1940–1943 and More Than Just Games: Canada & the 1936 Olympics.

Since 2012, Nina has proudly served as a member of the Canadian delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and in 2015 chaired the Memorials and Museums Working Group. She is current deputy chair of an IHRA project to develop recommendations on teaching and learning about the persecution and genocide of the Roma during the Nazi era, leading cutting-edge work in the field.

Nina states, “It has been a profound honour to work with the Society’s founders and the Holocaust survivor community, as well as the professional team, volunteers, members, supporters, and partners that are integral to the Centre’s impact. I am particularly proud of the innovative work we have done to develop original exhibitions in partnership with scholars, and of representing the VHEC on provincial, national and international advisories and organizations. Thanks to the steadfast engagement of our community of supporters, we have built a robust foundation for future growth and success.”

Founding President Dr. Robert Krell offers, “I want to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt thanks to Nina Krieger for her tireless contributions to the VHEC over the last 18 years. Over the last almost twenty years, I have had the privilege of working closely with Nina as together we worked to transform the dream of a vibrant, nationally recognized VHEC into a reality. Over the course of her service to the VHEC, Nina has remained a steadfast champion of the Holocaust survivors who founded the VHEC and worked to deliver robust education programs, outstanding exhibitions, and transformational commemorative events. While the VHEC is sad to see Nina go, we know that she will remain an integral pillar of our community and legacy.”

Nina affirms, “Survivors continue to be my greatest inspiration and guides. My thanks to the Board of Directors for its trust and partnership. I wish the VHEC every success going forward and remain committed as a champion of the Centre’s vital Holocaust education and remembrance mandate, now more vital and urgent than ever.”

Please join me in thanking Nina for her invaluable contributions and in wishing her every success going forward.

Corinne

Corinne Zimmerman
President, Board of Directors
Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre