The Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center (HHREC) of White Plains, NY has announced Max Friedman and Renee Pessin have joined their Speakers Bureau.
Max Friedman’s parents were Polish/Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in Sweden (where he and his sister were born) after their liberation from Bergen-Belsen. Friedman tells the story of how his parents survived five years of ghettos, slave labor and concentration camps and the loss of everyone and everything they had ever loved. Emigrating to the U.S. in 1952, his parents spoke very little about their past – though their physical and psychological wounds were apparent every day to Max and his older sister.
Friedman has worked as a journalist, publicist, corporate editorial director and memoir ghostwriter. His family memoir, Painful Joy: A Holocaust Family Memoir tells the story of a journey that began when he was nearly 70 years old. Early in his career, he worked in journalism and has had articles featured in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, and TV Guide. He also served as Director of Editorial Services at PBS’s Channel 13 and as unit publicist for Bill Moyers Journal. Most recently, he held the position of Vice President, Communications at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Max holds a BA in English and Asian Studies from Columbia College and a Master’s Degree in Journalism from the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
Renee Bronner Pessin, a Connecticut resident, is a descendant of two Holocaust survivors. Pessin’s mother Helen was the only survivor of her immediate and extended family of more than 50 people In Poland. Her father Sam, along with one brother were the only survivors of their large immediate and extended family. Pessin feels it is more urgent than ever to share her parent’s story, especially to community listeners, to ensure that history does not repeat itself. She is able to do so through excerpts from her mother’s video testimony to the Shoah Foundation and family pictures saved through the horrors of the Holocaust. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Pessin has worked as a registered nurse, editorial associate for scientific journals and most recently, for over 20 years, as a freelance biomedical grant and manuscript editor.
For more information about Friedman, Pessin, and other HHREC GenerationsForward Speakers, visit their website at HHRECNY.org
About The Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center
The Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center (HHREC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in White Plains New York that serves schools, synagogues, colleges, churches and civic centers in Westchester and the greater Hudson Valley area. The HHREC Mission is to enhance the teaching and learning of the lessons of the Holocaust and the right of all people to be treated with dignity and respect. HHREC works with teachers and students to help schools fulfill the New York State mandate that the Holocaust and other human rights abuses be included in their curriculum. Since 1994, the HHREC has brought the lessons of the Holocaust, genocide and human rights violations to more than 3,000 teachers, and through them to thousands of students. For more information visit www.hhrecny.org call 914.696.0738 email info@hhrecny.org
