Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center

10/14/2026

On October 14, 1943, under the most unimaginable and adverse conditions, Jewish prisoners at the Sobibor killing center chose resistance, executing a daring, meticulously planned revolt, breaching the barbed wire, fighting through the night, and charging through surrounding minefields to reclaim their humanity and fight for freedom.

While hundreds escaped into the surrounding forests, only about 50 ultimately survived the war, including Thomas Blatt, who detailed this significant act of resistance in his memoir, “Sobibor: The Forgotten Revolt.” Today and every day, we honor the extraordinary courage, resilience, and unyielding spirit of those who fought back against tyranny, ensuring their profound acts of defiance are remembered. Learn more about the Sobibor Uprising at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:

Under the most adverse conditions, Jewish prisoners initiated resistance and uprisings in some N**i camps, including the Sobibor killing center.

10/13/2026

As the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center becomes a reality, the voices and testimonies of survivors, like Sam Hilton, remain at the forefront of every milestone. Learn more about our approach, our latest construction updates, and the collaborative effort behind the project from Steve Hilton in the Phoenix Business Journal:

A team of national museum consultants is designing the center on the site of the city's first synagogue.

10/09/2026

10/01/2026

Join us on 10/21 as our President and CEO, Talli Dippold, presents "Memory to Legacy" at the East Valley JCC! She'll share more about our plans for the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center, an update on our progress, and how the community can get involved. Learn more: https://www.evjcc.org/events/memory-to-legacy-building-the-hilton-family-holocaust-education-center/

10/01/2026

We are thrilled to have Troy and Alana as part of our inaugural Educators Advisory Committee, helping to shape the educational experience for the Center during this critical planning period. Thank you to Higley Unified School District for highlighting their contributions and experience, and all that they are bringing to the Committee!

Two HUSD educators are helping shape the future of Holocaust education in Arizona. 📚

Troy Emenecker of Sossaman Middle School and Alana Charnofsky of Higley High School have been selected to serve on the inaugural Educators Advisory Committee for the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center.

Through their service on the committee, they will bring an educator's perspective to support meaningful Holocaust education and resources for students and teachers.

HUSD is proud to see our educators sharing their knowledge and experience beyond the classroom. Congratulations, Troy and Alana! 💙

09/24/2026

Construction update from the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center 🏗️

✔️ Walls taking shape
✔️ Interior framing underway
✔️ Future learning spaces becoming more visible

With every stage of progress, the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center moves closer to becoming a place where visitors can encounter Holocaust history through testimony, artifacts, and meaningful education.

👉🏻 Follow the progress and learn more: https://bit.ly/44rVOAH

09/15/2026

🕯️ A conversation on the street can become a moment of remembrance. Holocaust survivor Sami Steigmann recently spoke about the 3 countries that opened their doors to Jewish refugees when so many others would not.

His message reminds us that history does not only live in museums or classrooms. It lives in the conversations we choose to have, the questions we ask, and the lessons we carry forward.

👉🏻 Watch Sami’s talk from last month and explore testimonies from other Holocaust survivors: https://bit.ly/4wIbDOA

🎥: Lost Tribe

09/14/2026

Armin T. Wegner had already seen what hate and mass violence could destroy during World War I, when he documented the Armenian Genocide through photographs and letters. 🕯️

Years later, as the N**is began targeting Jews in Germany, he recognized the danger of hate left unchallenged. In 1933, after the N**i boycott of Jewish businesses, Wegner wrote directly to Adolf Hi**er in defense of the Jewish people.

He chose to speak when silence felt safer. ✍🏻

That choice came at a cost. The Gestapo arrested him, imprisoned him, and tortured him. Wegner’s life reminds us that courage sometimes begins with a person using their voice when others look away.

📸: Yad Vashem: World Holocaust Center, Jerusalem

09/09/2026

Before Rise Stillman survived the Holocaust, she was a young girl growing up in a small Orthodox Jewish village in Czechoslovakia, surrounded by family and tradition. ✡️

That childhood changed when Hungary took control. Fear entered Jewish homes across her community, and the life Rise knew disappeared.

She survived Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, forced labor in a potato field, and work in a salt mine mu*****ns factory. Years later, she rebuilt her life in Arizona, carrying memories of loss and the strength it took to keep going.

Rise’s testimony reminds us why Holocaust education must begin with real lives and the human experiences behind history.

🎶: Alex Kizenkov
📸: KJZZ Phoenix, Phoenix Holocaust Association, Jewish Phoenix

09/08/2026

A vision this meaningful takes a community that believes in remembrance, education, and the responsibility to carry history forward. 🤍

We are grateful to recognize the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix for their support of the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center.

Their commitment helps create a space where visitors will encounter Holocaust testimony and learn from personal accounts, leaving inspired to stand against hatred.

👉🏻 See the full list of donors helping make this vision possible: https://bit.ly/4u93mTk