2027 Cohen Family Upstander Awards Gala

Holocaust Survivor Zahava Rendler’s Story of Survival, Family, and Food

Join the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center and Cincinnati Museum Center in the crEATe Culinary Studio featuring the Kroger Food Lab for an intimate program exploring the role of food, family, and memory in the lives of Holocaust survivors. 

As part of our culinary series, Holocaust survivor Zahava Rendler will share her remarkable story of resilience and rebuilding. 

Zahava was born Golda Feuerberg in Stryi, Poland, just before the Nazi invasion. A Polish neighbor named Stachek hid her, her parents Gretel and Mendel, and about 30 other people in an underground bunker, bringing them food once a week. Zahava was only a baby, and the bunker had to remain quiet, so the adults would give Zahava sleeping pills to muffle her cries. 

After about a year in hiding, Zahava’s parents entrusted her to a Polish woman involved in the Resistance, who placed her with a Polish Catholic family in Lvov. When it became too dangerous for the family to continue hiding her, Zahava was sent to a nearby convent, where she lived under the false identity “Olga Pachulchak.” 

After the war, Zahava was reunited with her parents, who had also survived in hiding. The family later attempted to settle in Palestine but was detained by the British in a displaced persons camp on the island of Cyprus. Eventually, they were permitted to settle in Haifa, where Golda took the Hebrew name Zahava, meaning “gold.” She came to Cincinnati in 1963. 

During this special program, Zahava will reflect on her family’s story and the ways food can carry memories, traditions, and connections across generations. While preparing recipes like a traditional poppy seed cake, guests will explore how family recipes can preserve the stories and traditions of those who came before us.

This culinary series is generously made possible by the generosity of Barbara Kellar. 

Join the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center in partnership with the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library for our annual Kristallnacht Commemoration on Sunday, November 8, presented this year at the Downtown Main Library. 

Kristallnacht, or “Night of Broken Glass,” was a wave of violent anti-Jewish pogroms that took place on November 9–10, 1938, throughout Germany, annexed Austria, and parts of Czechoslovakia, marking a significant escalation in the Nazi persecution of Jewish people. 

This year’s commemoration will feature a panel discussion with descendants sharing their family’s experiences on Kristallnacht and its lasting impact across generations. 

• Judith Wertheim Rapport: Judith’s grandfather, Walter Wertheim was born in Moenchengladbach, a small German town on the border of the Netherlands. He was 13 years old and on his way to school when Kristallnacht changed his life forever.   

• Edna Southard: Edna’s grandfather, Arnold Alexander was co-owner of Alexander Brothers, a successful clothing store in Essen, Germany. On Kristallnacht, the store was destroyed, and Arnold was imprisoned in a concentration camp.   

• Steve Coppel: Steve’s father Werner Coppel was born in Moers, Germany. On Kristallnacht, the synagogue where Werner had just celebrated his bar mitzvah seven months prior was not destroyed. But Kristallnacht was a warning.    

The program coincides with Stories of Kristallnacht, a special exhibition on view from October 2026 through January 2027 at the downtown main library branch. The exhibition brings together local Holocaust survivor testimony and collections with Crystal Night, a haunting glass sculpture by acclaimed Hungarian artist Maria Lugossy. The sculpture was donated to HHC’s Permanent Collection by Nancy & David Wolf and John & Ronnie Shore. 

Composed of laminated and sandblasted glass forms with bronze human faces emerging from fractured surfaces, Crystal Night serves as both a memorial and a warning, evoking the violence and devastation of Kristallnacht while reflecting on humanity’s enduring capacity for hope. 

Together, the exhibition and commemoration invite our community to remember through art, testimony, and family stories, ensuring these experiences continue to be shared across generations. 

Registration for the 2026-2027 Roma & Sam Kaltman Teacher Fellowship is now open!

Are you ready to join a community of educators committed to ensuring the lessons of the Holocaust inspire a new generation of upstanders? Join the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center’s prestigious cohort of teacher leaders and apply to the Roma & Sam Kaltman Teacher Fellowship today.

Cost: $100 per participant

Schedule:

Friday, November 13: 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

• Includes lunch and a Shabbat dinner in historic Union Terminal

Saturday, November 14: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

• Includes lunch

Wednesday, December 9: 4:00-5:30 PM on Zoom

• A conversation with historian Daniel Greene

Saturday, January 16: 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

• Includes lunch

Save the date for the annual Stephen and Lusia Hornstein Lecture on the Holocaust and the Human Spirit on March 7, 2027.  

This year’s featured speaker is Pamela S. Nadell, Professor and Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women’s & Gender History at American University, where she also directs the Jewish Studies Program. An award-winning historian and nationally recognized expert on American Jewish history, Dr. Nadell is the author of Antisemitism, an American Tradition, the winner of the National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies. 

Drawing on her extensive scholarship, Dr. Nadell will explore the history and enduring impact of antisemitism in America, examining how its roots continue to shape our society today. Her lecture will provide historical context, challenge contemporary misconceptions, and invite meaningful reflection on the importance of confronting antisemitism and strengthening democratic values

Save the date as we come together to honor and remember the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and pay tribute to survivors on May 2, 2027.

The memorial service will include a candle-lighting ceremony by six survivor families, along with music and prayer. All descendants of survivors are invited to participate in the candlelight to remember their loved ones.