“Echoes Across Time: Voices of Survival and Lessons for Our Future” Session 5

“Echoes Across Time: Voices of Survival and Lessons for Our Future”

In collaboration with the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre

As we stand on the cusp of history, the voices of Holocaust and genocide survivors grow more urgent, reminding us of the cost of silence, the value of empathy, and the power of resilience. “Echoes Across Time” invites audiences to explore the critical lessons these testimonies offer—on values, democracy, and the warning signs of oppression. Through monthly episodes, each centered around a survivor’s testimony about their life experiences, this series probes the question: Are we truly listening? Join us as we amplify stories from the Holocaust to Rwanda, Cambodia, and beyond, engaging with survivors, scholars, and advocates who work tirelessly to preserve these legacies and inspire a more compassionate future.

“The Global Reach of the Holocaust: Voices from Unexpected Places”

The USHMM and its partners will share highlights from their international education outreach, focused on finding connections and relevance to the Holocaust in unexpected places from South Asia to Africa, the Middle East to Latin America and beyond.

Ilana Weinberg International Programs Officer for the Initiative on Holocaust Denial and Antisemitism

Since joining the Museum in 2019, Ilana has worked to build international partnerships to reach young adults and leaders through joint educational projects that deliver accurate information about how and why the Holocaust happened in ways that reflect the relevance of this history to those audiences today. She leads the International Program on Holocaust and Genocide Education, implemented jointly with UNESCO, to build the capacity of education stakeholders around the world to develop context relevant Holocaust education in support of existing national curriculum framework and priorities. Previously, Ilana managed innovative partnerships and programs across the greater Middle East at America Abroad Media, an international nonprofit that empowers and supports local voices that convey universal values through creative content and media programming. Ilana has a BA in Journalism from The George Washington University

Tad Stahnke: William and Sheila Konar Director of International Educational Outreach

Tad Stahnke is the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s William and Sheila Konar Director of International Educational Outreach, and Director of the Museum’s Initiative on Holocaust Denial and Antisemitism, advancing the Museum’s mission to establish the relevance of the Holocaust for new generations. Before joining the Museum, Mr. Stahnke was Program Director at Human Rights First, an international human rights advocacy organization, and Policy Director at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which was created by Congress to advise the U.S. government on advancing respect for the internationally-recognized right to freedom of religion.

Mina Abdelmalak: Senior International Programs Officer, Middle East and North Africa

Mina works with partners across the Middle East and North Africa as well as visitors to the Museum to help introduce the relevance of Holocaust and the early warning signs of genocide in our world today. Mina was born and raised in Egypt, where he received a law degree from Ain Shams University. He studied nonviolence and advocacy strategies at the Arab Academy for Non-Violence Studies in Lebanon. Mina also worked as a legal researcher for the Egyptian Union of Liberal Youth (EULY), a Cairo-based, non-profit organization, which promotes classic liberalism among Egyptian youth.

Tali Nates

Tali Nates is the founder and director of the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre (JHGC) and Chair of the South African Holocaust & Genocide Foundation (SAHGF). She is a historian who lectures internationally on Holocaust and genocide education, memory, reconciliation, and human rights. Born to a family of Holocaust survivors, her father and uncle were saved by Oskar Schindler. Tali has been involved in the creation and production of dozens of documentary films, published many articles and contributed chapters to different books among them God, Faith & Identity from the Ashes: Reflections of Children and Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors (2015), Remembering The Holocaust in Educational Settings (2018), Conceptualizing Mass Violence, Representations, Recollections, and Reinterpretations (2021) and The Routledge Handbook of Memory Activism (2023).

In 2021 she was part of the 12-member Expert Group of the Malmö Forum, serving in an advisory capacity to the Secretariat of the Malmö Forum on their programme on Holocaust remembrance, education and actions to combat antisemitism. Tali serves on many Advisory and Academic Boards including that of the Contested Histories Initiative, the Interdisciplinary Academic Journal of Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center and the Academic Advisory Group of the School of Social and Health Sciences, Monash University (IIEMSA), South Africa.

In 2010, Tali was chosen as one of the top 100 newsworthy and noteworthy women in South Africa by the Mail & Guardian newspaper and won many awards including the Kia Community Service Award (South Africa, 2015), the Gratias Agit Award (2020, Czech Republic), the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Award (2021) and the Goethe Medal (2022, Germany).

• September 2025: Srebrenica: Capturing Memories in the Face of Denial
• October 2025: From Tragedy to Healing: Rwanda’s Path to Restorative Justice
• November 2025: After the Genocide in Cambodia: Rebuilding from Devastation