THS Holocaust Center Opens New Line of Communication

Teaneck School District officials involved with the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Center at have created an email address to open up more channels of communication with the public.

The email address, holocaustcenter@teaneckschools.org, allows students, teachers and those in the community to ask questions of center officials and to find out more about what resources are available for viewing.

New school district volunteer Pearl Markovitz, who staffs the center on Thursdays and is an expert on the Holocaust and its literature, currently supervises all the electronic correspondence. 

Created more than 20 years ago by then-THS social studies supervisor Ed Reynolds, the Holocaust center is undergoing a revitalization of sorts after spending some years in “hibernation” and being used as office space, said the center’s coordinator Goldie Minkowitz.

“When current THS principal Angela Davis came into the picture, she asked what she could do for the Holocaust Center,” Minkowitz said. “Students started coming in and cleaning the room and organizing all the resources. We held a rededication ceremony for the center in November, with a lot of coverage in the press.”

It was from that news coverage that Markovitz learned about the center and contacted Minkowitz to volunteer her services.

Markovitz had recently moved to Teaneck from Kew Garden Hills, N.Y., where she was an English language and literature teacher at Bowne High School for 30 years.

“There, she introduced a course in literature of the Holocaust, which she taught for 18 years,” said Minkowitz. “She was using Ed Reynold’s curriculum in her class.”

Reynolds had co-authored a Holocaust curriculum around the same time he was both forming the center and leading a drive to make teaching Holocaust studies mandatory in New Jersey.

Markovitz completed the process of becoming an official volunteer for the school district, and recently, Interim Superintendent of Schools Barbara Pinsak approved purchasing a laptop for the center so students, teachers and the public can contact Markovitz when she staffs the center on Thursdays.

“In the future, we hope we can get more volunteers for the center on different days and for certain hours,” Minkowitz said. “Volunteers can either work in the center answering the phone and emails or if they’d like to share any Holocaust-related stories with the students, they can schedule a time to come and talk to the kids.”

The new email address has been out for more than a week and already is fielding inquiries.

Markovitz said one family from the community contacted the center for books about the Warsaw Ghetto. And another resident wanted to share a videotaped interview of her father that was recorded by director Steven Spielberg. Spielberg had done a project to capture accounts of the Holocaust from survivors and witnesses.

“I can check emails for the center from any computer,” said Markovitz. “I’ll reply to all messages or set up a time to meet with the individual on Thursdays.”

Resources at the center available to students and the public include books, posters from the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and movies and documentaries having to do with the Holocaust. Visitors also can view a sculpture by Teaneck artist Milton Ohring, who created the piece in memory of family members murdered in the Holocaust.

The center currently is processing a large collection of Holocaust and genocide-related books and material that were donated by Jeanette Friedman and Philip Sieradski in honor of their parents, who were Holocaust survivors.

“We’re hoping to get the collection out in time for the Holocaust Memorial Day at the beginning of May,” said Minkowitz.

Anyone who would like to volunteer their time and expertise at the center can email Pearl Markovitz at holocaustcenter@teaneckschools.org. She is seeking survivors, their descendants and others who are willing to share their experiences or help in any another way.