Annette Covrigaru is a Long Island, NY native and recently graduated from Kenyon College with a B.A. in English emphasizing in Creative Writing. In 2014 she was the winner of the college’s Muriel C. Bradbrook Award. Her stories have been published in Kenyon’s student-run literary magazine, HIKA, and are forthcoming in Lambda Literary's 2014 Fellow Anthology. In past years, she has worked as a Kenyon Review Student Associate and has interned at Random House. While an M.A. student in the Weiss-Livnat International M.A. Program in Holocaust Studies at the University of Haifa, she looks to merge her studies of the Holocaust, literature, and queer identity to create nonfictional stories and preserve LGBTQA Holocaust narratives.

Pe'era Feldman-

Gordon, from Ramat Gan, currently holds a BSc in Cognitive neuroscience from Bar Ilan University, and an MSc in tech management from Holon Institute of Technology (pending thesis). Pe'era served the Jewish Agency in various capacities, including working as a community shlicha to Jewish communities abroad. She also worked as a Tour guide and facilitator in the Yad Vashem Museum complex and led groups as an educator and tour guide In Israel, Poland the Czech Republic, focusing on Holocaust education. She is very much interested in reshaping the current curriculum and tour narratives of Israeli and Jewish Youth groups through the prism of current approaches to the holocaust focusing on dialogue. Another point of interest is the German civil compliance and resistance during WW2, and more specifically.

Born in Columbus, GA and raised in Kennesaw, GA, Maura S Finlay earned her BA from East Tennessee State University in History with a minor in Anthropology. Upon graduating, Maura spent the summer interning at Kennesaw State University's Museum of History and Holocaust Education. During her university years, she worked at East Tennessee State University's Charles C. Sherrod Library for a semester. Maura has always had an interest about the Holocaust, Communism, and World War II. Maura hopes to utilize her MA in Holocaust Studies in order to work in the field of Holocaust education in archives or museum work.  

Originally from Poland, Janusz Flakus studied history and later drama and theatre studies at University College Cork in Ireland, from which he obtained his BA degree in 2012. During his university years, Janusz’s strong interest in the Holocaust led him to undertake commemorative, artistic and educational projects aimed at perpetuating its memory. Among others, he organized Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations in Cork, which featured personal testimonies by Holocaust survivors living in Ireland and directed a student production of Joshua Sobol’s play Ghetto at the Granary Theatre in Cork. Upon graduation, Janusz designed and conducted workshops for primary schools exploring the life of Janusz Korczak and participated in the teacher education program Teaching the Holocaust run by the Holocaust Educational Trust Ireland. His areas of interest include Holocaust education, theatrical representations of the Holocaust, Holocaust theology and comparative study of totalitarian systems.  

Phillipa Friedland

holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree majoring in Law and Industrial Sociology from the University of The Witwatersrand in South Africa, a Certificate in Early Childhood Education and is currently enrolled in the Haifa University's Masters in Holocaust Studies. Phillipa has lived in Vancouver Canada for the past 21 years and has been a volunteer guide at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre for 14 years and prior to commencing her master's degree she worked as the Administrator of the Holocaust Centre where she will return upon completion of her degree.  

Ziv Fromovich was born

and raised in Israel. He graduated from Bar Ilan University with a bachelor`s Degree in Economics and Business management and has worked in some of the leading Brokerage houses in Israel. Ziv spent several years with his family in Silicon Valley California, while he worked for Bank Leumi completed his MBA at San Jose State University. He has always had a special interest in the academic study of the Second World War and the Holocaust. Ziv is planning to change his profession and become a researcher and educator in the field of Holocaust studies.  

Marissa Houdek, from Wisconsin, graduated with a BA in French Teaching and a minor in History Teaching from Brigham Young University in 2013. Just before finishing her studies, she spent four months studying abroad in Jerusalem. After graduation, Marissa interned for seven months in Alsace, France as an English teacher. Traveling throughout Israel and Europe in the past year

Born and raised in Germany, Monika Hübscher pursued a

BA at Potsdam University, majoring in Religion Science and Judaism. Alongside her studies, Monika had gained practical experience through her work in the Jewish Museum Berlin, and through various educational projects in Germany. In the framework of her research and profession, Monika had been using archives throughout Europe, and had the opportunity to strengthen her proficiency

intensified her already deep interest in learning more about the Holocaust. Marissa looks forward to being a teacher someday.  

in Yiddish, apart from her mother tongue German. Her main interests include education and democracy, and specifically the use and misuse of the history of the Holocaust in pedagogy and politics. Hoping to become a researcher in the field, Monika joined the MA program at the University of Haifa.  

Omri Horesh, 33 years old, currently living in Haifa. Born

and raised in Kibbutz Evron, a small place near the city of Naharia in northern Israel. Omri graduated with honor a BA in Cultural Studies from Sapir College two years ago. His interest in the Holocaust started quite early - being a third generation to survivors from both sides. As a teenager he found great interest in Holocaust literature and film. He is drawn to various aspects of the era, mostly with those of contemporary culture that echoes the Holocaust. His intention is to try and think of the holocaust through a complex cultural perspective for instance, he finds the human condition in the holocaust most fascinating. Understanding the importance of researching the field, he says he is committed to continue the memorial chain through active social involvement. Omri believes that research work must go hand in hand with an active educational work outside the academy. He is most enthusiastic to enter the field and discover the varied possibilities it holds.

Joanna Kopacka

earned her BA in Art History from the University of Warsaw. In her BA thesis she focused on critical discourse and art criticism in Poland in the years 1945-1948. During her degree she was interested in the process of (re)constructing the main aesthetic categories and notions right after the catastrophe of the World War II as well as in the problem of visual representation of the Holocaust, specifically in the art of Jonasz Stern. For the past few months she worked in the "From the Depths" foundation which recently launched its new "Matzeva Project" in Poland. As the main objective of the project is looking for matzevas used as a building material during and after the World War II and return them to cemeteries, she co-organized the Project's first survey in northern Poland.  

Anat Leviteh Weiner was born and raised in Israel, she graduated from the University of Tel Aviv with a Bachelor’s Degree in Occupational Therapy. For several years Anat resided in New Haven, CT and worked as the Education director of youth programs at the Jewish Community. As part of her role she initiated, implemented and subsequently directed the “Adopt a Survivor” program for six years. Anat was also responsible for the community Holocaust commemoration ceremony and Holocaust related programs and seminars. In addition, she expanded her knowledge through courses and seminars at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in NYC and at the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University. Anat hopes to continue in the field of Holocaust education.  

Born and raised in the Philippines, Angel Noel, is currently an MA Student at the University of Haifa in the Holocaust Studies Program. She graduated her Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies Major in European Studies at De La Salle University in Manila. As an intern under the cultural arm of the Israel Embassy in the Philippines, she gained the opportunity to learn more about the Holocaust and other genocides and the vitality of learning from history's atrocities. Moreover, having some background in history and international affairs, Angel developed an interest in humanitarian organizations and their undertakings on armed conflict. Angel has worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for over a year and a half and she intends to continue working for movements against genocide, racism, and prejudice as well as educating the youth of the Philippines about the Holocaust, the lessons from the Holocaust, and the role of the Philippines in rescuing the Jews during WWII.  

Originally from Berlin, Germany, Lisa Schulz-Yatsiv has been living in Israel for

the past three years. She holds a BA in History from the University of Vienna. During her studies she was working for Verein Gedenkdienst, an NGO which prepares and sends Austrian volunteers to various Holocaust related institutions worldwide and conducts educational work about the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and right-wing extremism in Austria. She also worked as a guide at the Mauthausen Memorial Site, Austria. After moving to Israel she has worked for the Austrian Heritage Collection, an interview project documenting biographies of Israelis of Austrian origin, at the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem, alongside working as a guide in Yad Vashem. Her research interest revolves around the question of behavior and reaction of civil society, especially the German civil society, to the persecution of Jews and also how these aspects can be involved in Holocaust education in Germany and Israel.

Gal Stav-Alfasi received a BA in Communications and Journalism from Sapir College where her final paper compared the curricula of Hamas and the Third Reich. She has previously worked for channel 1 news and is also a social activist. She teaches drama and theatre in under-privileged communities, and previously taught history through Sapir College.  

   

 

Born the granddaughter of four Holocaust Survivors, and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, a community of survivors and their children, Jessica Weberman always knew that she wanted to pursue a career in Holocaust Studies. Jessica went on to earn her Bachelors of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Through her studies in Education, Judaic Studies, and Anthropology, her involvement with the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida during her undergraduate career, and the family heritage tours that she participated in throughout Europe, she is honored to now have the opportunity to earn her Masters Degree in Holocaust Studies from the unique program that is offered at The University of Haifa in Israel.  

Samantha Weiss of Ft. Myers Florida, graduated with a BA in History from the

University of Miami in 2014 where she participated in the Holocaust Survivor Support Internship Program. She came to the University of Haifa to pursue her MA in Holocaust Studies in hopes of eventually becoming a University Professor of the topic. While in Israel, Samantha is interning at Yad Vashem as a research assistant, and focusing on her main interests of female perpetrators in the Holocaust.  

Rachel Levitan is a second generation to the Holocaust, born and living in Israel all her life, married with three children and five grandchildren. Rachel heads one of the leading law firms in Israel which she established in 1981. She is a Graduate of Tel Aviv University in B.A.-Law, M.A.-Law and M.A.-Business Administration. She serves as a director on the Board of Directors of I.D.C. – Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center. Rachel represents the Israeli Bar in the largest Association of Lawyers – The I. B.A. – International Bar Association. As a second generation to the Holocaust, Rachel has reached the stage in her life whereby she has decided to confront the past and look for more ways to ensure that the memory of the Holocaust will remain forever. Rachel joined the Weiss-Livnat MA in Holocaust studies at the University of Haifa, where she intends to write a thesis on topics relating to the Holocaust.

Coos Wever was born and raised in Holland, and has been living in Israel for the last twenty years. He has a BA degree in both Physiotherapy and in Pedagogics. He currently works as a physiotherapist in ALYN, a rehabilitation center for handicapped children and teenagers in Jerusalem. His interest in the Holocaust started as an adolescent when he found out that his grandparents had been hiding a Jewish couple during the Second World War. They were betrayed and in the end his grandfather perished in Bergen Belsen. Since learning about this he has been occupied with the Holocaust, all the more since living in Israel. He arranged for his grandparents to be recognized ad Rightous among the Nations in Yad Vashem and serves as a guide in Yad Vashem. He has a special interest in the so-called "Troebitz train", the last train that was sent from Bergen Belsen before the liberation of the camp.  

Members of the third cohort who did not turn in bios include: Martin Ben-Charush, Rachel Levitan, Gavriella Levy, Oksana Scherba and Andrew Steinberg.