About Our Partnership
The mission of the Tennessee Holocaust Commission is to educate Tennesseans about the history of the Holocaust, seeking to remind citizens that prejudice, hatred and violence, as manifested in the Holocaust and other genocides, leads to the destruction of a humane society.
In 1984, the Tennessee state legislature created the Tennessee Holocaust Commission by passing a bill with the purpose of educating others about and commemorating the Holocaust. In 1996, new legislation recreated the commission to recognize its primary role as education and to create a parallel not-for- profit body. This agency’s Commissioners, appointed by the governor, function as part of the commission as a whole.
Every year the Tennessee Holocaust Commission provides a variety of educational services and opportunities that include: resources, workshops, and conferences across the state.
The Commission first connected with the Spungen Foundation through the story of Holocaust survivors, Simon and Mina Waksberg. Immediately after the war, the Waksbergs lived with Oskar and Emilie Schindler, and Secretary Marthe Scheuer, in Regensberg Germany. Following their immigration to the United States, the Waksbergs settled in Memphis, Tennessee. The Waksberg family subsequently gave photos and  written correspondence with the Schindlers and Marthe Scheuer to the Spungen Foundation. The artifacts are now on loan to the Children’s Holocaust Memorial in Whitwell, TN through the Spungen Foundation.