SMF Mothers Day
The Sousa Mendes Foundation Presents
Mother’s Day Book Talk with Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff and author Joan Arnay Halperin
You’re invited to join Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff, Holocaust educator and child refugee survivor, for a Mother’s Day dialogue with Joan Arnay Halperin, author of My Sister’s Eyes: A Family Chronicle of Rescue and Loss During World War II on the topics of love, loss, and survival. Q&A to follow. This event is free, but pre-registration is required Registration will close on Thursday, May 7 at 10 p.m. US Eastern Time.
Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff fled Nazi Europe, Kosice, Slovakia, as a small child in 1941, via Lisbon, Portugal. As the Education Specialist for Holocaust Studies for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, she is responsible for all staff development/teacher training on teaching the Holocaust for Miami Dade County Public Schools. Miriam is an appointee to the Florida Education Commissioner’s Holocaust Task Force. Miriam is the Founding Director of the University of Miami Holocaust Institute and the founder of the film series “Screening the Holocaust.” Miriam is a frequent speaker and presenter on Holocaust Education at conferences and workshops nationwide. She recently was chosen as one of the Outstanding Pioneer Women in Miami-Dade County for her work in Holocaust education. In October 2019, she was honored in Pittsburgh PA with The Lifetime Achievement Award given by Classrooms Without Borders.
Joan Arnay Halperin, daughter and granddaughter of Sousa Mendes visa recipients, is a retired TESOL teacher in the New York City public schools. As the author of My Sister’s Eyes she credits its origin to her participation in the Sousa Mendes Foundation’s “Journey on the Road to Freedom” in 2013. Subsequent to that life-changing tour, Joan has presented her story at numerous Holocaust education workshops including that of “Echoes and Reflections,” the educational arm of Yad Vashem. Kirkus Reviews calls My Sister’s Eyes “a thoroughly researched and intensely moving remembrance,” and the book will soon be featured in the K-12 World War II section of the research resource, GALE.com. Joan has served in various capacities in the Sousa Mendes Foundation and continues to serve on its Education Initiatives Committee.
