Meet the people behind the VHEC

Staff | Board of Directors | Guardians of the Society | Holocaust Survivor Speakers

Symposia Historians | Community Partnerships | Professional Affiliations

Staff

Staff members may be contacted using our contact us page.

HANNAH MARAZZI
Executive Director

HANNAH MARAZZI
Executive Director

Hannah Marazzi is the Executive Director, and formerly the Director of Communications & Special Projects of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.

Hannah Marazzi joins VHEC after serving for two and a half years as the Special Advisor to Canada’s inaugural Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, The Honourable Irwin Cotler. Previous to this she obtained her graduate degree in public policy from the University of Cambridge and has worked previously on human rights, refugee rights, and Holocaust education. Her communications work can be read on the CBC, in the National Post, and in publications such as Comment Magazine.

LISE KIRCHNER
Director of Education

LISE KIRCHNER
Director of Education

As Director of Education, Lise Kirchner leads the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre’s education team in the development of school programs, educational resources, and docent and teacher training.

Lise Kirchner has worked with the VHEC for over two decades in various capacities, from volunteer docent and lawyer to program consultant. She has extensive experience in the development and delivery of the VHEC’s educational programs, exhibitions and teaching resources for students of all ages. Her work has included projects to enhance the accessibility and pedagogical use of the VHEC’s collection of artefacts and Holocaust testimonies.

Prior to joining the VHEC, Lise obtained her law degree from the University of British Columbia in 1991 and practised for a decade in Vancouver, specializing in labour, employment and human rights law.

DR. ABBY WENER HERLIN
Generations After, Descendant Programs

DR. ABBY WENER HERLIN
Generations After, Descendant Programs

Abby Wener Herlin has been engaged in the areas of social justice education, social emotional learning education, non-profit organizations and the creative written arts for over twenty years. She holds a PhD from UBC in language and literacy education and has dual Master’s degrees in social justice education and counselling psychology. She is a published academic and poet.

She founded Threads Education and Counselling in 2017, creating inclusive workshops on social justice and social and emotional learning themes, and has a therapeutic practice that serves adolescents and adults. In the past years she has served as a moderator for the VHEC’s community programs in partnership with the JCC Jewish Book Festival.

Abby leads the Generations After, Holocaust descendant programming at the VHEC, and is editor of the dedicated descendant section in VHEC’s publication Zachor.

Abby is a member of the third generation. She is born and raised in Vancouver and is the proud mother of two young boys.

TALIA MASTAI
Associate Managing Director

TALIA MASTAI
Associate Managing Director

As Associate Managing Director, Talia oversees administration and daily operations of the Centre, volunteer management and coordinates all survivor-centred programming at the VHEC, including the Child Holocaust Survivor Group.

Talia holds a Masters of Social Work degree from the University of British Columbia, a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Victoria and has worked in a variety of community-based not-for-profit organizations.

Talia began working at the VHEC as a Young Canada Works student in 2001, returning as Administrator from 2006-2009 and most recently rejoined the VHEC team in 2021.

CAITLIN DONALDSON
Director of Collections & Exhibitions

CAITLIN DONALDSON
Director of Collections & Exhibitions

As the Director of Collections & Exhibitions she is responsible for managing the preservation of and access to the records, archives, testimonies and museum collection of the VHEC, in support of the mandate of the Centre. In addition, she oversees the use of artefacts, archival materials and testimonies in exhibitions.

Caitlin graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor of Arts in humanities and archaeology. She holds a Library & Information Technology diploma from Langara College.

ADA ALSTER
Archivist

ADA ALSTER
Archivist

Ada Alster is an archivist specializing in digital and community archives. She received a B.A. in Anthropology from Humboldt State University, in Arcata, California in 2019. She completed a dual master’s degree in Archival Studies and Library and Information Studies from the University of British Columbia in 2023. Ada has experience working in libraries, archival institutions, and museums. Ada previously worked at the VHEC starting in May 2021 until September 2023 and is now returning as the VHEC Archivist after working as a Digital Archivist at the Museum of Vancouver. Ada is currently pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Gratz College and is dedicated to expanding her knowledge in the field.

SARAH VISCA
Communications & Operations Manager

SARAH VISCA
Communications & Operations Manager

Sarah ensures the integrity and accuracy of donor data within the organization’s database and oversees project management platforms for streamlined operations. She provides strategic reports for campaigns, publications, e-newsletters, and events, enhancing informed decision-making and engagement.

In her communications role, Sarah leads website updates and maintenance, collaborating with internal teams to boost search engine optimization and analyze performance metrics. She manages social media scheduling and content optimization, coordinates e-newsletter creation and provides technical assistance across the team.

Sarah graduated from Concordia University in Montreal with a Bachelor of Arts in economics. She is passionate about environmental sustainability, human and animal rights, and social justice.

ELLIE LAWSON
Education Manager

ELLIE LAWSON
Education Manager

As Education Manager, Ellie Lawson is responsible for the development, advancement and support of educational initiatives at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. She develops resources and delivers impactful programs for schools, educators, professionals, the public and adult learners.

Ellie holds a master’s degree in public history from Indiana University in Indianapolis, with expertise in Holocaust and genocide history. Throughout her career, Ellie has collaborated closely with Holocaust survivors, as well as second- and third-generation descendants, and survivors of human rights violations, amplifying their narratives.

NIHIT P KANDEL
Finance Administrator

NIHIT P KANDEL
Finance Administrator

Nihit joined the VHEC in December 2023 as a Finance Administrator. He is a Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) with over 8 years of experience in auditing and accounting. He supports the finance department of VHEC and is responsible for accounting and general financial transactions, processing donations, and assisting with administration duties.

Nihit holds a master’s degree in economics and bachelor’s degree in business studies from Tribhuvan University. He also has been engaged in volunteering work in non-profit organizations for the last 6 years and has an interest in economic philosophy, history, human rights, and social justice.

Board of Directors

AL SZAJMAN
President

AL SZAJMAN
President

Al Szajman joined the Vancouver Holocaust Centre Society board in 2012. During his 30-year career in marketing and advertising, he worked with both global and lesser known brands, and local and national not-for-profit organizations.

As a son of Holocaust survivors and someone with a broad mix of friends, he believes VHEC’s work is as important today as ever.

CORINNE ZIMMERMAN
Past President

Corinne Zimmerman

CORINNE ZIMMERMAN
Past President

Corinne Zimmerman is the daughter of Holocaust survivors Henry Zimmerman (z”l) and Sally Zimmerman. She joined the board of the Vancouver Holocaust Centre Society over six years ago, and assumed the role of President in 2020. She is married to Jonathan Festinger and is the proud mother of Jeremy, Dara and Avrel.

Corinne is General Counsel with the federal Department of Justice, practicing in the Aboriginal Affairs portfolio with a focus on legal innovation. She is passionate about education and remembrance of the Holocaust.

MARCUS BRANDT
First Vice President

Marcus Brandt

MARCUS BRANDT
First Vice President

Marcus Brandt, whose grandparents were Holocaust survivors, has served on the Vancouver Holocaust Centre Society Board as a Director, Treasurer and Second Vice President. Marcus has lived in Vancouver since 2008, and began volunteering with the VHEC at that time. Marcus is a Senior Manager at local accounting firm DMCL LLP, where he advises corporations, trusts, not-for-profit organizations and individuals on a wide range of accounting and tax-related matters. Marcus also volunteers with Congregation Beth Israel and with the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver. Marcus, his wife Erin and their son Joseph can be seen throughout Vancouver’s hiking trails and on the local ski hills.

SHOSHANA KRELL-LEWIS
Second Vice President

JOSHUA SORIN
Treasurer

RITA AKSELROD
Director

RITA AKSELROD
Director

Rita Akselrod is a child survivor born in Romania and a founding member of the VHEC.

She has served in numerous capacities, including as Vice President, President and Past President; and on the Nominations committee, Life Fellow committee and Symposium committee. She is the coordinator of the VHEC’s Outreach Speakers program.

In 2013, Rita Akselrod won the YWCA’s Woman of Distinction award in the category of Voluntary Community and Humanitarian Service.

Her warmth and kindness serve as an inspiration to the VHEC staff and her fellow directors. Always there to lend a hand, or to bake delicious goodies for symposia, meetings and luncheons, Rita exemplifies the meaning of community service.

MICHAEL FUGMAN
Director

MICHELLE GUEZ
Director

MICHELLE GUEZ
Director

Michelle Guez, a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, was born in Israel and moved to Vancouver at the age of six. Michelle obtained a bachelor’s degree in communications from UBC and a master’s degree in business administration from the French business school HEC.  Her professional experience includes working for 10 years in market research at Eli Lilly’s European head office in Paris. In 2011, Michelle moved back to Vancouver with her husband and had three children. Since then, she has volunteered for the VHEC, King David High School, Jewish Family Services and other organizations.

SAMUEL HELLER
Director

HELEN HEACOCK-RIVERS
Director

MEGAN LASKIN
Director

MICHAEL LIPTON
Director

JACK MICNER
Director

KEN MILLER
Director

TALYA NEMETZ-SINCHEIN
Director

TALYA NEMETZ-SINCHEIN
Director

Talya Nemetz-Sinchein is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. She was born and raised in Vancouver, and lived in Ontario, England and the Netherlands while completing her psychology and law degrees at Queen’s University. As a civil litigator, Talya strives to resolve legal disputes pragmatically and efficiently. When not working, Talya enjoys cooking, hiking and spending time with friends and family. Talya joined the board of the Vancouver Holocaust Centre Society to educate herself so that she is better able to continue the work of the VHEC by educating others.

MARK WEINTRAUB
Director

Guardians of the Society (Board of Governors)

Rita Akselrod

Jody Dales

Jill Diamond

Arthur Dodek

Mariette Doduck

Norman Gladstone

Art Hister

Saul Kahn

Richard Kool

Robert Krell

Phil Levinson (Chair)

Ed Lewin

Bernie Simpson

Robbie Waisman

Yosef Wosk

Holocaust Survivor Speakers

AMALIA BOE-FISHMAN

Amalia Boe-Fishman was born in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands in 1939. When the Nazis invaded, Amalia was hidden at the home of her father’s coworker who was a member of the resistance. She was separated from the rest of her family and was not allowed to go outside. Amalia was liberated in 1944 and moved to Canada in the 1960s. She made a career as an educator and Montessori teacher.

LILLIAN BORAKS-NEMETZ

Lillian Boraks-Nemetz was born in Warsaw, Poland. In 1940, her family was forced to move into the Warsaw ghetto, where she narrowly escaped deportation multiple times before finally going into hiding under a false identity. In 1947, Lillian’s immigrated to Canada, living in Montreal and Victoria before settling in Vancouver.

Lillian is the award-winning author of The Old Brown Suitcase (1994), The Sunflower Diary (1999), and The Lenski File (2000), as well as several recent works, including Hidden Vision (2024), Out of the Dark (2018), and Mouth of Truth (2018). Her writing explores themes of memory, survival, and identity. Lillian also co-edited Tapestry of Hope (2003), an anthology of Holocaust writing for young readers.

MIRIAM DATTEL

Miriam Dattel lived through Nazi atrocities as a young girl in Croatia, Italy and Switzerland. Miriam and her family were moved to over 18 different hiding places during the Holocaust with the help of local resistance groups. She immigrated to Israel with her family in 1949, then to Montréal in the 1960s and finally settling in Vancouver. Miriam spent her career as a nurse where she was the head of the dialysis unit.

ROBERT KRELL

Robert Krell was born in the Hague, Holland in 1940. Two years later, Robert was placed into hiding and separated from his parents. Robert and his parents were reunited after liberation. His family moved to Canada in 1951.

He founded the annual Holocaust symposium for high school students, the audio-visual testimony project, the Holocaust Memorial at the Schara Tzedeck Cemetery and the Vancouver Holocaust Centre Society for Remembrance and Education, of which he was its founding president. Robert Krell was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2021 for his contributions to our understanding of mass ethnopolitical violence and for his advocacy on behalf of Holocaust survivors.

CLAUDE ROMNEY

Claude Romney is a child survivor from France, born in Paris a few months before the beginning of the Second World War. Her father was arrested and later deported to Auschwitz in March 1942 and worked as a prisoner doctor in the camp. Claude and her mother spent most of the war years hiding in a small town in the south of France in the Pyrénées mountains, where her father joined them at the end of May 1945. She immigrated to Canada, first to Calgary and then to Vancouver. Claude is a professor emerita in French at the University of Calgary.

PETER SUEDFELD

Peter Suedfeld was born in 1935 in Hungary. As Hungary allied with Nazi Germany, life for Jews deteriorated. Jewish children were banned from school, and Peter’s mother was arrested by the Gestapo in 1944. Peter’s father was deported as a forced labourer, and Peter was sent to live with an aunt. With help from the Red Cross, he was hidden in rural Budapest, moving often due to bombings. After the war, Peter reunited with his father and moved to Vienna as a displaced person. In 1948, Peter immigrated to New York. Peter moved to Vancouver in the 1970s. He is Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Dean Emeritus of Graduate Studies at the University of British Columbia.

MARIETTE DODUCK

Mariette Doduck was born in 1935 in Brussels, Belgium. She was the youngest of eleven children and grew up close to her siblings after her father passed away when she was about one and a half years old. As restrictions increased during the war, Mariette was sent in hiding, surviving several German raids, moving frequently between farms and convents. Mariette remained in Europe before finally immigrating to Canada in 1947.

Mariette was a co-founder of the Vancouver Holocaust Centre Society for Remembrance and Education. She is the author of A Childhood Unspoken (2023), which is also available in French. In 2024, she was appointed to the Order of Canada for her contributions to Holocaust education and philanthropy.

MICHEL SILVER

Michel Silver was born in 1936 in Paris, France. He lived in Paris until 1943 when he was put into hiding in a small village southwest of the city. During this time, he was separated from his parents who hid in another area of France. Michel was liberated in the Spring of 1944. He moved to Canada in the 1950s, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering and pursued an international career in the field.

RENE GOLDMAN

René Goldman was born in Luxembourg in 1934. At the age of six, René and his family fled Belgium and then to France to escape the Nazis. René was separated from his parents and was hidden in several orphanages amid the shadows of terror. René was liberated in 1944. He moved to Canada in the 1960s and had a long career teaching history at UBC.

René is the author of A Childhood Adrift (2019), which is also available in French.

Symposia Historians

LAUREN FAULKNER ROSSI

Lauren Faulkner Rossi is an assistant professor of history at Simon Fraser University. She has taught modern German history and Holocaust and Genocide Studies courses in the United States and Canada. She has been involved with the Holocaust Educational Foundation for more than a decade and is currently working on articles about the cultural causes of genocide and the Holocaust, war and gender.

CHRIS FRIEDRICHS

Professor Chris Friedrichs is a professor emeritus of history at the University of British Columbia, where he taught European and world history for 45 years. He is a specialist on German history. His most recent book is titled A Jewish Youth in Dresden: The Diary of Louis Lesser, 1833–1837. Professor Friedrichs has been involved in Holocaust education activities in Vancouver for many years.

SEBASTIAN HUEBEL

Dr. Huebel completed his Ph.D. at UBC and has written and taught about Modern German history, the Holocaust and genocide studies in both the United States and Canada. Dr. Huebel is a faculty member in the Department of History at the University of the Fraser Valley and author of the book Fighter, Worker, and Family Man: German-Jewish Men and Their Gendered Experiences in Nazi Germany, 1933–1941. Dr. Huebel’s book was one of five finalists for the best book in non-Canadian history with the Canadian Historical Association and was awarded Outstanding Book by the journal of the Association of Librarians in North America.

KIT KRIEGER

Kit Krieger has been a Holocaust educator for more than 40 years. He is a past president of the BC Teachers’ Federation and past registrar of the BC College of Teachers. He served as executive director of the BC Principals’ and Vice-Principals’ Association for six years. In 2003, Kit was awarded the Kron Sigal Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education and in 2015, was named one of the Education 100 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of UBC.

DR. KRISTIN SEMMENS

Dr. Kristin Semmens (Associate Professor of History, University of Victoria) is an expert in German and European history in the 20th century, specializing in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Her first book, Seeing Hitler’s Germany: Tourism in the Third Reich, offers an in depth look at state-run and commercial tourism under the Nazi regime. Her second book, a brief introduction to Nazi Germany, is called Under the Swastika in Nazi Germany (Bloomsbury Press, 2023). A graduate of the University of British Columbia (BA in Honours History), University of Victoria (MA in History), Kristin received her PhD in History from the University of Cambridge.