“If we don’t tell the story, then who will?”
That was the striking message Chhange President Howard Dorman presented to a crowd of more than 200 people who attended a celebration and testimonial dinner to honor Holocaust survivor speakers, volunteers and sponsors for the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights and Genocide Education (Chhange), located on Brookdale Community College’s Lincroft campus.
“Without our local Holocaust survivor speakers, their stories of life, and our foundation, where would we be — who would speak for them?” asked Dorman.
The audience included 2nd, 3rd and 4th generations of relatives of survivors and of those who perished during the Holocaust.
Julia Funck, a senior at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School, who has been involved with the center since sixth grade, was presented with the 2025 Chhange Student Leadership Award during the celebration dinner.
Survivors want to share their stories
Several Holocaust survivor speakers were honored for teaching life-changing lessons. Prestige Capital received the Corporate Leadership Award for the company’s continuing support to provide the communities with innovative programming.
Julia’s first introduction to Chhange came when she was just 11 years old attending Forrestdale School in Rumson, when she saw the Holocaust survivor artifacts and collections, and listened to survivor Claire Boren’s testimony.
Inspired by her curiosity about the world and a desire to broaden students’ understanding of global affairs, she knew exactly what path she wanted to pursue.
Julia created a blog and Instagram page called Voices: A Children’s Rights Initiative, which highlights various children’s rights issues around the world and lists charitable organizations aiming to tackle these problems. She has written more than 25 articles on topics ranging from unethical supply chain practices to the independence movement in West Papua.
Julia began an internship at Chhange in 10th grade, making suggested enhancements to the 11 Survivor Scrapbooks and helping update the Holocaust and Armenian Genocide archives, among other projects. She also spearheaded a program to educate middle school students on how they can make a “Chhange” in their communities.
The presentation series, which was launched in April of 2024, provides a series of steps, called the “Impact Process,” and enables students to identify a problem or concern in their local communities and brainstorm possible solutions while working together with other students.
For 46 years, Holocaust survivors have shared their personal accounts with Chhange, younger generations, and those who want to hear from those who experienced the Holocaust firsthand.
“To say you’ve been instrumental in Chhange’s mission to educate and empower younger generations would be an understatement,” said Dr. Asya Darbinyan, Chhange’s executive director. “Your commitment, courage and voices are at the heart of Chhange and we are deeply honored to recognize each of you.”
Chhange believes the survivors’ personal accounts provide memorable lessons that create a sense of responsibility in students, and all of us, to remember the past and a commitment to stand up against prejudice and discrimination.
The survivors understand the importance of telling their stories.
Messages from some of the Holocaust survivors:
- “The world must know our stories.”
- “The story must be told.”
- “Not just the facts but I must convey what it was like for me.”
- “It’s a shame that the legacy the Nazis left convinced a 13-year-old girl to apologize to me for what her forefathers did.”
- “I got a letter one time from a little girl who said “Your story inspired me so much, one day I hope to be as strong and resilient as you are. Now I feel like a new person with a mission and that mission is not to let anyone forget the Holocaust. If I can reach one or two children and make them see the world in a different way, that is a big thing.”
In 2024, among other accomplishments, Chhange educated nearly 50,000 students, educators and community members and engaged with hundreds of educators through professional development workshops. Chhange reaches local audiences in New Jersey, the U.S. and across six continents in person and virtually. They also expanded New Jersey’s only physical archive for artifacts, correspondence, oral histories, photos and other keepsakes related to the Holocaust.
