Voices of Hope

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Promoting a culture of courage to stand up against hatred through Holocaust and genocide education and remembrance.

10/26/2026

A reminder worth carrying into the week ahead.

10/22/2026

Sometimes we hold back because we don’t know how to fix everything. Tutti reminds us that we can still help in the ways we can, right where we are.

10/19/2026

It is hard to imagine what the little boy Rabbi Lazowski speaks about in this recording endured, or the extraordinary life he would go on to build.

For decades, he spoke openly about those years, returning to memories that must have been difficult to revisit. He wanted people to understand not only what happened to him, but what can happen when cruelty becomes part of everyday life.

As we prepare to pay tribute to Rabbi Lazowski at Evening of Hope on November 4, we think about how much he gave of himself by sharing his story. We may never fully understand what he experienced, but we can learn from the way he chose to live his life. Perhaps the greatest way to honor him is to put those lessons into practice ourselves.

For more information about Evening of Hope, visit ctvoicesofhope.org.

10/09/2026

Perhaps one of the most remarkable things about Ada is that she has never thought of herself as remarkable.

Today, Ada Gens-Ustjanauskas turns 100. After surviving the Holocaust and rebuilding her life in Connecticut, she and her husband raised six children. But even while supporting a large family, Ada never stopped finding ways to help other people.

For years, she was known as “the immigration lady.” People may not have been able to pronounce her name, but they knew who Ada was and where to find her. She helped immigrants and families navigate complicated systems, drawing on her fluency in seven languages, her persistence, and her determination to open doors for others.

And Ada never seemed to think any of this was unusual. Difficult work was simply work that needed to be done. Helping someone was simply what you did. Even at 90, when a government job sent her to Alaska, her attitude was essentially: I have a job to do, so I’m going to Alaska.

Ada has spent a lifetime working hard, putting others before herself, and always looking for the next person she could help.

Happy 100th birthday, Ada. May this extraordinary milestone be filled with the same warmth, strength, and hope you have shared with so many others throughout your life.

Photo courtesy: Gens Family Project

10/07/2026

October 7 was not just a date.

It was the day Hamas-led attackers crossed into Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage in the deadliest single day for Jews since the Holocaust.

It was the day Kfir Bibas, only nine months old, and his four-year-old brother Ariel were taken from their home with their mother, Shiri. They never came home alive.

It was the day families lost the people they loved most, and communities were left grieving alongside them.

For Jews thousands of miles away, the attack felt deeply personal. Israel is part of so many Jewish families’ stories, history, language, memories and identity.

In the years that followed, antisemitism, Holocaust distortion and denial became more visible around the world. The hatred of Jews that many hoped belonged to the past was still here, painfully present.

Three years later, we remember the lives taken and the families and communities who continue to carry the loss.

October 7 will never be just a date.

10/06/2026

For Ada, Lithuania’s independence was never just history.

Her father, Jacob, had fought for an independent Lithuania. Ada grew up in that country, lived through its loss, and years later had the chance to see its independence restored.

Her return to Lithuania was more than a visit. It connected her past, her father’s story, and a country that has remained part of her identity throughout her life.

As we continue celebrating Ada Gens-Ustjanauskas ahead of her 100th birthday, we are honored to share another chapter of her remarkable life.

A special thank you to the Gens Family Project for sharing photographs and archival materials that helped us tell this story.

10/05/2026

On October 9, Ada Gens-Ustjanauskas will celebrate her 100th birthday.

In the days leading up to this extraordinary milestone, we’ll be sharing different pieces of Ada’s remarkable life and the people who became part of her story.

We begin with the Venclauskas family, whose courage and connection to Ada extended far beyond the war and across generations.

A special thank you to the in Šiauliai, Lithuania, and the for sharing photographs, history, and materials that helped us bring this story to life.

More of Ada’s story to come.

09/29/2026

Some objects carry stories we never imagined. For Jeff Israel, this shofar, more than 200 years old, is much more than something passed down through generations. It represents an extraordinary act of courage and his grandfather’s determination to preserve a piece of Jewish life, whatever the risk.

09/28/2026

Sometimes, the enormity of what was lost during the Holocaust is captured in the smallest things. An ordinary object could hold so much of the life someone was desperately trying to hold on to. And then they took that, too.

Address

20 Waterside Drive Suite 100
Farmington, CT
06032

Telephone

+18604705591

Website

http://www.ctvoicesofhope.org/

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