You Shall Tell Your Children: An Evaluation Of The ICHEIC Service Corps

Publication Date: September 2006

Publisher: Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life; Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies

Author(s): Leonard Saxe; Nicole Samuel; Fern Chertok

Research Area: Social conditions

Keywords: Social Services; Holocaust; Education; Program Evaluation

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

The ICHEIC (International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims) Service Corps (ISC) was founded in Spring 2004 and was offered to students at the University of Miami and five New York City colleges, including both public and private.. By providing support to elderly Nazi victims through the use of college-age friendly visitors, the ISC sought to address two concerns of the Jewish community: providing companionship to Nazi victims as they age and engaging Jewish college students in an experience with the potential to strengthen their Jewish identity, their capacity to serve in leadership positions, and most importantly, their personal connection to and knowledge of the Holocaust. This report provides a summary of the findings of research conducted by the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies (CMJS) on the 2005-06 ISC program. The purpose of the research was multifold: to understand the impact of the ISC on both students and survivors, to provide program administrators with feedback related to the continued development of the program, and to understand the potential to export the program to other sites in the U.S. and abroad.