Dr. Helene Sinnreich is the Director of the Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies and Associate Professor of History at Youngstown State University. She received her Ph.D. from Brandeis University in 2004.  Dr. Sinnreich has served as a fellow at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC and at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.  Dr. Sinnreich’s research interests include Nazi ghettoization policy, social history of the Holocaust, the genocidal use of man-made starvation, and more recently, rape and the Holocaust.  Dr. Sinnreich also serves as the Executive Director of the Ohio Council on Holocaust Education and the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Jewish Identities.

Chaya Kessler is instructor of Hebrew language at Youngstown State University. Born in Russia and raised in Israel, Chaya Kessler earned her BA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Prior to entering college, she served in the Israeli army intelligence unit during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. While raising a family, she resumed her studies and completed her Masters in History with honors from Youngstown State University. She was the 2004 recipient of the B’nai B’rith graduate award from the history department. She is a member of Phi Alpha Theta and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies.

Rabbi Joseph Schonberger is the rabbi for El Emeth Synagogue in Liberty, OH. 

Dr. Saul Friedman Dr. Saul Friedman founded the Judaic and Holocaust Studies program at Youngstown State University. He is Professor emeritus of History and the former Clayman Family Professor of Judaic and Holocaust Studies. Dr. Friedman has been awarded the Youngstown State University Distinguished University Professor Award six times, the Ohio Humanities Council Lifetime Achievement Award, the Zionist Orgranization Branckis Award, and five regional Emmys for Public Television documentaries. Dr. Friedman has published ten books on Jewish History and the Holocaust and is currently working on another.