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
Acting Executive Director

HANNAH MARAZZI
Acting Executive Director

Hannah Marazzi is the Acting 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
Associate Director of Programs & Community Relations

DR. ABBY WENER HERLIN
Associate Director of Programs & Community Relations

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.

In addition to being responsible at the helm of all the VHEC’s commemorative and partnered public programs and special events, Abby is the editor of the dedicated descendant section in VHEC’s publication Zachor that she has named Generations, after.

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 Coordinator

ELLIE LAWSON
Education Coordinator

As Education Coordinator, Ellie Lawson is responsible for the development, support, and advancement of various education initiatives at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. Her role encompasses the enhancement of school programs, educational materials, and the training of docents and teachers.

Possessing a deep expertise in Holocaust and genocide history, Ellie brings a rich reservoir of experience to her role. She earned her Masters in Public History from Indiana University Indianapolis. 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. Her dedication extends to crafting and delivering impactful educational programs tailored for professionals and adult learners alike.

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

JANOS BENISZ

Janos Benisz is a child survivor from Hungary. Born in 1938, Janos may be one of the youngest concentration camp survivors in Canada. At the age of six, Janos and his mother—along with 19,000 other Hungarian Jews—were rounded up and sent to Strasshof concentration camp in Austria. As he was being marched to transport, Janos saw his father and grandmother’s bodies lying outside the family home, murdered.

Janos spent eight to nine months in Strasshof until the Russians liberated the camp. Afterwards, Janos and his mother returned to the family home. Later, one of Janos’ uncles took him to a Jewish orphanage in Budapest. He remained there until he was nearly 10 years old. His mother remained in their family home until she died in her 70s.

Janos was sent to Canada at the age of 10 in 1948. He was adopted by a family in Winnipeg and lived in seven foster homes, an orphanage and a reform school from the ages of 10 through 17.

Janos became a newspaper reporter and worked for many newspapers, including the Vancouver Sun.

AMALIA BOE-FISHMAN

Amalia Boe-Fishman was born in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands on August 23, 1939. She survived the Holocaust as a child in hiding. After the Second World War, Amalia travelled to Israel where she met her first husband, with whom she immigrated to Canada and had three sons. Amalia came to terms with her Holocaust experience while attending a hidden child conference in Israel. Today, Amalia is a devoted Survivor Outreach Speaker for the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre and a member of the Vancouver Child Survivors Group.

LILLIAN BORAKS-NEMETZ

Lillian Boraks-Nemetz was born in Warsaw, Poland. In 1940, Lillian’s family was forced to move into the Warsaw ghetto. In 1942, after narrowly escaping deportation several times, her father made arrangements for Lillian to leave the ghetto. Using a false identity, she went into hiding in several Polish villages for the remainder of the war.

She was eventually reunited with her father and mother.

Lillian’s family immigrated to Canada in 1947, living in Montreal and Victoria before settling in Vancouver.

Lillian is the author of Mouth of Truth: Buried Secrets, several volumes of poetry, as well as the award-winning trilogy of young adult novels: The Old Brown Suitcase, The Sunflower Diary and The Lenski File. She has translated two volumes of poetry by Polish émigré writers and worked as a creative writing instructor.

MIRIAM DATTEL

Miriam Dattel lived through Nazi atrocities as a young girl in Croatia, Italy and Switzerland, before immigrating to Israel with her family in 1949. A survivor in every way, Miriam’s life began anew as she started her own family and launched a remarkable 40-year nursing career. Miriam lives in Burnaby with her husband, near their three adult children and their families. She is a member of the Child Survivors group.

ROBERT KRELL

Robert Krell is a child Holocaust survivor from Holland. He founded or co-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.

He is professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. Krell has authored books and articles relating to the impact of the Shoah and continues to speak locally and internationally on the subject. Robert received the State of Israel’s Elie Wiesel remembrance medal as well as the Governor General’s Caring Canadian award in recognition of his Holocaust education activities.

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 on December 12, 1941 during a large roundup of Jewish intellectuals, and interned at Compiègne, a transit camp north of Paris. He was deported to Auschwitz on March 27, 1942 as part of the first convoy from France, which was also the first from Western Europe. Miraculously he survived, thanks to a combination of factors, the most important of which were luck and the fact that he was a doctor. After almost 34 months in Auschwitz and a death march, he spent another three-and-a-half months in Mauthausen and Ebensee before he was liberated by the American Army in France.

Claude and her mother spent most of the war years as refugees in a small town in the south of France in the Pyrénées mountains, where her father joined them at the end of May 1945.

Claude holds a PhD from the University of Paris VIII. She taught at universities in France, England and Canada and is now professor emerita of French at the University of Calgary.

Her publications include topics ranging from applied linguistics to French Canadian literature, in particular the writer Gabrielle Roy, as well as the Holocaust. She has recently finished writing a book on the written testimonies of fifty-seven former Auschwitz prisoner-doctors.

She immigrated to Canada with her British-born husband and has lived in Vancouver since 2004.

She is a member of the Child Survivors’ Group in Vancouver and sits on its executive. She is one of the VHEC’s devoted outreach speakers and talks to students, including French immersion students, about her wartime experience and her father’s story.

PETER SUEDFELD

Peter Suedfeld was born in Hungary on August 30, 1935. His father was a musician and his mother worked as a secretary. His mother came from a family that was rich until 1929, but lost its money in the Great Depression. Peter recalls a very happy childhood with close family relationships.

With the onset of the Hungarian-German alliance in 1942, life for Jews became increasingly difficult. Discriminatory laws were introduced that prohibited Jewish children from going to school. In 1944, Peter’s mother was arrested by the Gestapo while attempting to stop a raid at the business where she worked. He would later discover that his mother died in a concentration camp—most likely Auschwitz. His father was deported to Nazi Germany to work as a forced labourer, so Peter was sent to live with an aunt.

When the Budapest ghetto was established, Peter was taken to a home in a rural part of Budapest with the help of the International Red Cross. With his blond hair and blue eyes, Peter looked Aryan, and he lived among a group of Christian children, always moving from building to building due to the constant bombings.

At the end of the war, Peter was reunited with his aunt and uncle. His father also survived the war and they moved to Vienna as displaced persons. The following year, Peter was sent to a boarding school where he experienced continued antisemitism; most of the other students came from families with connections to the Nazi regime.

In 1948, Peter and his father immigrated to New York where Peter attended Stuyvesant H.S., a specialized science and math public high school that enrolled applicants based on an entrance exam. Peter subsequently won a scholarship to Queens College, but dropped out in order to join the army. After completing his military service, he returned to Queens College for his BA before attending Princeton for his MA and PhD. He worked at the University of Illinois, Rutgers University and the University of British Columbia.

At UBC, Peter was Head of the Department of Psychology from 1972 to 1984, and Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies from 1984 until 1990. He is currently Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Dean Emeritus of Graduate Studies. Peter received the Canadian Polar Medal in 2016, and was invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2019.

TOM SZEKELY

Tom Szekely was born in Budapest, Hungary, on May 19, 1935. All four of his grandparents were assimilated Jews. His mother had been raised as a Protestant, and his father converted to Christianity as a teenager in order to attend medical school. After Hungary was occupied in 1944, however, Tom’s family was considered Jewish by the Nazi authorities, and forced to wear the yellow star.

Tom’s father was prohibited from practicing medicine and held in a detention centre. He was then deported by train and forced to march to Mauthausen. Tom’s father survived the gruelling march, but died from typhus just before liberation in April 1945. Tom’s remaining family had been arrested and taken to an assembly area in an old school. The next day, a family friend who belonged to the Hungarian Nationalist Socialist party, the Arrow Cross, pretended to arrest them and took the family to the ghetto where they would be safer.

Tom was in the ghetto from October 1944 until liberation in February 1945. After liberation, the family went to live with surviving relatives in Transylvania, but Tom had a difficult time both emotionally and psychologically. In 1947, he moved to Switzerland to live with his aunt and uncle, who adopted him. He came to Canada in 1951 and was joined by his mother and younger brother in 1956. Tom studied engineering and geology and became a teacher before switching to civil service. He settled in Vancouver in 1974.

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.

ADRIAN MYERS