Sophia’s Legacy
Holocaust, Genocide and Conflict Education in the Classroom
“We live in a global society. When your neighbors are in trouble, you bring the chicken soup.”
DR. SOFIA VEFFER
SURVIVOR, EDUCATOR, ACTIVIST
MISSION
To expose working educators to the multiple lessons from the Holocaust, other Genocides, and current world conflicts, then provide tools to bring these lessons into their schools and classrooms.
PURPOSE
Sophia’s Legacy is a professional development program for educators designed to celebrate and share the miraculous and inspiring story of Holocaust survivor Sophia Veffer. With her story as the foundation, important content from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Rwanda Peace Values Education curriculum are added to create robust, tangible and practical lessons, tools and vocabulary for teachers to bring challenging topics into their classrooms and schools.
HISTORY
SUNY Buffalo State began its long relationship with Sophia in the fall of 2006 when she agreed to speak with the student cast of The Diary of Anne Frank to inform their upcoming theater department production. What was scheduled as a one hour visit blossomed into a four-hour cathartic story sharing that has laid the foundation for a deeply special relationship.
As a founding board member of The Anne Frank Project, Sophia has shared her powerful story in all aspects of our programming. Sophia has touched the hearts of thousands of students throughout Western New York and across America.
In 2019 Sophia was awarded the SUNY Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree, officially commemorating her immense contributions to SUNY, Buffalo State, and the world.
MEET SOPHIA
Sophia grew up in Amsterdam, attended school with Anne Frank, and experienced firsthand the unthinkable atrocities of the Holocaust. As a young girl, she spent those years in hiding and in two concentration camps, separated from her family.
Today, Sophia is an activist and educator, sharing her story and how she rebuilt her life following the war with unflinching honesty, poignancy, and her trademark sense of humor.
PARTNERS
Sophia’s Legacy is a program of Buffalo State University’s Anne Frank Project in partnership with Buffalo State’s School of Education, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center in Rwanda.
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School of Education
SUNY BUFFALO STATE UNIVERSITY
The school’s community of faculty and staff is committed to the intellectual, personal, and professional growth of future and practicing professionals in the field of education.
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Holocaust Memorial Museum
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Working to keep Holocaust memory alive while inspiring citizens and leaders to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity in our constantly changing world.
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Rwanda Peace Values Education Curriculum
KIGALI GENOCIDE MEMORIAL CENTER
Rwanda’s national reconciliation process following the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda is a model of forgiveness, community, and strength for the world to learn from.
RESOURCES
Click below for resources, research, and tools to bring Sophia’s Legacy into your classrooms, schools, and communities.
LEARNING
The 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda resulted in the murder of more than 1 million Tutsi and Moderate Hutu by Hutu Extremists over just 100 days—a genocide modeled on the template created by Adolph Hitler. This haunting similarity makes for important comparative lessons to bring into the classroom. More than 29 years following the atrocity, Rwanda stands as a global model of recovery, reconciliation, and national development.
Rwanda’s remarkable story is a powerful emblem of hope for our youth today and a reminder of human potential for us all. We are honored to have a unique and special relationship with the nation of Rwanda. Each year, we travel with a delegation of students and teachers to Rwanda to learn valuable social justice insights, the potential of humanity and provide teacher training in Story-Based Learning to Rwanda educators.
OUR TEAM
Sophia’s Legacy is led by a multi-disciplinary team of scholars and community leaders.
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Drew Kahn
Founding Director
Anne Frank Project
SUNY Distinguished Service Professor
SUNY Buffalo State University -
Wendy Patterson, Ph.D.
Dean and Professor
School of Education
SUNY Buffalo State University -
Andrew Hashey, Ph.D.
Chair and Associate Professor
Exceptional Education Department
SUNY Buffalo State University
LEARN MORE > -
Pascal Karangwa
Director, Buffalo Rwanda Community Organization and Anne Frank Project Advisory Committee Member
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Leigh-Anne Hendrick
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Fellow and Teacher at Chautauqua Lake High School
LEARN MORE > -
Anne-Sophie Hellman
AFP Student Intern
Program Coordinator
THE VOGT FAMILY FOUNDATION
at the COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR GREATER BUFFALO
Primary supporter of Sophia’s Legacy
Dedicated to making WNY a better place for all while focusing on education, arts and culture, environment, anti-poverty initiatives, refugee issues, matters of inequality. We are grateful for their generous support and trust.