With the recent dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents nationwide and social media hate rhetoric, Sandra Kanengiser has directed a $1 million grant from the Jack and Goldie Nomberg Foundation to support free educational tours for students at Holocaust Museum LA.

The Jack and Goldie Nomberg Foundation was funded by Kanengiser’s uncle, Jack Nomberg, who died in 2019 at the age of 101. Both Nomberg and his wife, Goldie, were Holocaust survivors who met in Los Angeles in the 1950s and built a successful wholesale and retail textile business.

The grant is in memory of Kanengiser’s parents, Robert and Barbara Gerson, who were also survivors.

The museum annually welcomes 30,000 fourth-grade through high school students, primarily from underserved communities, and will soon break ground on a major expansion project. By 2030 the museum expects to welcome a half-million visitors annually, including 150,000 students.

In cooperation with teachers, museum staff customize each docent-led tour to fit the age level, prior knowledge, background and interests of the students. Each school group is also given the opportunity to dialogue with a Holocaust survivor. In addition to free admission for all students, the museum offers bus transportation scholarships for Title I schools where field trips would otherwise be cost-prohibitive.

As a result of participating in a tour of Holocaust Museum LA, 95% of students agreed that young people should learn about the Holocaust to stop something like it from happening again; and 85% said they would say or do something if they heard negative comments or jokes about any religion, other races or ethnicities.

“Our goal in making this grant is to further education toward reducing and eliminating antisemitism and hate crimes,” Kanengiser said.

For information about the museum’s student tours, visit holocaustmuseumla.org/student-tours.