Hillel is once again making available grants for Hillel groups to undertake innovative Holocaust-education projects on their campuses. In addition, Hillel will conduct a Spring Consultation to discuss the future of informal Holocaust education on campus.

The Darmstaedter grants may be used for campus Holocaust-education programs that demonstrate the potential to affect campus opinion leaders. A separate pool of funds is available to help campuses produce “Cabaret at the Edge of the World,” an innovative, Hillel-designed program that revives the Jewish performing arts of the Holocaust era. Hillel groups may apply for grants here.

Hillel’s Spring Consultation is intended to review the state of informal Holocaust-education programs on campus and to find new ways to create meaningful Jewish experiences that educate students about the Shoah. It is anticipated that the consultation will include students, Hillel professionals, academics, Jewish educators, survivors and others involved in Holocaust education. Complete details of the conference have not been determined. Those interested in participating should contact Associate Vice President for Communications Jeff Rubin at jerubin@hillel.org.

In the year 2005-2006, Darmstaedter funds were used for a cross section of Holocaust-education activities. A video of 2005-2006 Darmstaedter-funded activities may be viewed on the Hillel Web site.

“Cabaret at the Edge of the World” programs were conducted at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., the University of Cincinnati, Tufts University, and in Kiev and Moscow. Clips from the Cincinnati performance have been included in the Darmstaedter video.

The program provided grants for Hillel Holocaust-education programs on many campuses, including: Virginia Commonwealth University whose Hillel hosted an interfaith trip to the Virginia Holocaust Museum; Chapman University where students performed an original, student-written adaptation of “Jakob the Liar;” University of Wisconsin for a student art competition; and University of Michigan for a week-long conference on the Holocaust. In addition, Darmstaedter funds were used by Northwestern University Hillel to conduct a campus education campaign in the wake of a Holocaust denial incident on campus.

The Darmstaedter program also supports Hillel’s AJPA Journalism Track at the Spitzer Forum on Social Justice. In addition to informing campus opinion leaders about the Holocaust, the J-Track helps students who are interested in journalism to explore this career, to interact with professionals in the field, and to meet with newsmakers. Last year the J-Track included a unique session with Holocaust survivor Tania Rozmaryn and legendary journalist Marvin Kalb in which participants learned about the media's failure to adequately report the horrors of the Holocaust to the American public. Participants also traveled to the White House for a special briefing by a presidential advisor. Students interested in the 2007 J-Track, February 25-27, may apply here.

Darmstaedter funds were also used to support Hillel’s efforts to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur.

The Darmstaedter program is supported by the Estate of Frank and Claire Darmstaedter through the UJA-Federation of New York.