Julie Kohner presented Voices of the Generations in two separate sessions at Temple B’nai Or on April 19 and 20, 2026, engaging both the Renaissance Group and high school students. Special thanks to Executive Director, Barbara Kavadias, and Director of Membership Engagement and Communications, Michele Spinak for hosting the programs.

Temple B’nai Or Executive Director, Barbara Kavadias, Julie Kohner, and Director of Membership Engagement and Communications, Michele Spinak.

The Weinstein Jewish Community Center of Richmond, Virginia hosted Julie Kohner and Voices of the Generations for presentation on April 14, 2026. The presentation was held via zoom. Special thanks to Pnina Morgan, Director of Programing at the Weinstein JCC for hosting the program.

Temple Kol Emeth in Marietta hosted Voices of the Generations for a Yom HaShoah engagement, sponsored by Holocaust survivor Vera Javor, along with her family, Nikki and Roger Goodstein. Opening remarks by Mrs. Goodstein introduced her family’s story of surviving the Holocaust in eastern Czechoslovakia and Poland.

Her moving account was followed by an introduction of VOG Founder Julie Kohner by Cindy Livingston, Director of Member Engagement at Temple Kol Emeth. Julie then shared the story of her mother’s survival through her presentation, This Is Your Life, Hanna Bloch Kohner, and concluded with a reflection on the recent placement of Stolpersteine in Amsterdam, honoring her mother and her mother’s first husband, Carl.

Temple Kol Emeth Director of Member Engagement, Cindy Livingston and Julie Kohner

Julie Kohner with Yom Ha Shoah program sponsors Nikki Goodstein and Vera Javor

Temple Kol Emeth, sanctuary stained glass depiction of the Story of the Jewish People

VOG founder, Julie Kohner, was welcomed back to the University of Missouri, Columbia, Hillel for two engagements on March 17, 2026.

Thank you to Rabbi Jeanne Snodgrass for hosting the programs.

The Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) hosted Julie Kohner and Voices of the Generations on Wednesday evening, March 11, 2026 at their main campus. Thanks to Amber Maze for hosting the program. A nice turnout from the community was both engaged and responsive to the program, with great followup questions during the program Q&A. This was an especially meaningful program as this evening was the anniversary (Yahrzeit) of Julie’s uncle, Dr. Gottfried Bloch’s passing. Dr. Bloch survived Auschwitz as did Julie’s mother, Hanna Bloch Kohner.

On March 8, 2026, Julie Kohner presented Voices of the Generations to the Sunday School class of 5th, 6th, and 7th graders and their parents. We thank Rabbi Shawn and Educational Director Michael for hosting VOG. The students asked thoughtful questions and showed great curiosity about how sharing personal stories connected to the Holocaust can be meaningful. Their engagement also encouraged them to share stories about their own families and how they survived.

The St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum welcomed Julie Kohner and Voices of the Generations for a speaking engagement on Sunday, November 24, as part of their monthly Survivor Hour program. The St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum is a Holocaust museum with a mission to “use the history and lessons of the Holocaust to reject hatred, promote understanding, and inspire change”.

Following the engagement, which featured “This Is Your Life, Hanna Bloch Kohner”, and a new film documenting the placement in Amsterdam of two Stolpersteine honoring Julie’s mother Hanna, and her first Husband, Carl Benjamin who did not survive Auschwitz, Julie took audience questions and signed copies of her parents autobiography, Hanna and Walter, A Love Story.

VOG would like to thank the Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum and Helen Turner, Director of Education, for hosting this wonderful and well received program.

Julie Kohner was invited to present Voices of the Generations to Congregation Emanu-El on November 7, 2025, in Redlands, California. Rabbi Cantor Jennifer Bern-Vogel arranged for the presentation as part of the Congregation’s Kristallnacht memorial service. Julie presented This Is Your Life, Hanna Bloch Kohner, a new presentation on the placement of Stolpersteine in Amsterdam honoring her mother, and followed up with questions and answers, and a book signing.

As a part of this evening’s Kristallnacht memorial service, a dedication ceremony was held for the receipt of a Holocaust Memorial Torah scroll, saved from the destruction of the Nazis.

Everyone has a story and a history, and a Torah scroll is no exception. Thanks to the facilitation of Debra Duncan, CAPT, United States Navy [ret], and a former congregant in Norfolk, VA with Rabbi Cantor Bern-Vogel, and the board of Temple Adath Joseph of St. Joseph, Missouri, this precious Holocaust Memorial Scroll was received by Congregation Emanu El, which is taking over the care of the scroll formally allocated to Temple Adath Joseph in 1993.

The Holocaust Torah is Memorial Scrolls Trust (MST) #17, one of the 1564 Torah scrolls that survived the Shoah in Czechoslovakia. MST #17 is recorded to have been written in 1800. It was one of 25 scrolls taken from smaller communities outside of Prague, and placed in the Malvazinky Cemetery Chapel for safe keeping during the Second World War. They were later moved to the Jewish Museum in Prague. In 1958, all of the scrolls were moved by the communists to a warehouse near Prague. They were saved from further destruction and loss in 1964 and were donated to the Westminster Synagogue in London that year. The Memorial Scrolls Trust was later created as an independent charity to care for the Holocaust Torah Scrolls. Memorial Scrolls Trust has distributed some 1400 Holocaust Torah Scrolls to communities and organizations around the world.

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The Savannah Jewish Federation hosted Julie Kohner and her Voices of the Generations program at a Federation Lunch and Learn, on Thursday, October 30, 2025. The Jewish Federation is a focal point of community life in Savannah. Savannah is also the location of Congregation Mickve Israel, one of the oldest synagogues in the United States. Thanks to Michelle Allen, director of programming at the Savannah Jewish Federation for bringing the program to the community.

The New Mexico Holocaust and Intolerance Museum and its Director, Alexander King, sponsored a Voices of the Generations presentation by Julie Kohner, held at the Albuquerque Jewish Community Center on Sunday, May 25. The event was well attended, with an engaging Q&A session following the program.