Baycrest offers programs and support for Holocaust survivors and their families.
The Holocaust Resource Program offers consultation, counselling, and educational services for clients, families and survivors in the community, at Baycrest and in other long-term care facilities. Staff with specialized expertise run ongoing support groups for child survivors and children of survivors.
Azrieli Foundation Café Europa
The Azrieli Foundation Café Europa at Baycrest is a special, monthly drop-in program for Holocaust survivors living in the community to come and enjoy a social morning. The Café is for people who survived concentration camps, labour camps, exile, were in hiding or members of resistance and partisan groups.
It is a chance to visit with old friends, meet new ones, hear stimulating lectures, join a lively discussion, listen to music and have a good time. The program operates on Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon and is held in the Terraces-Wagman building on the Baycrest campus. Kosher refreshments are provided. A social worker coordinates the program and is available to Café Europa participants.
Fee: None
Holocaust Child Survivors and Hidden Children’s Group
This is a support and discussion group for survivors who were 17 years of age or younger when the war ended.
Second Generation Support Group for Adult Children of Aging Holocaust Survivors
This is a support and discussion group for children of Holocaust survivors. Participants share their experiences, identify their needs and discuss ideas for helping themselves and their aging parents.
There is no fee for the programs listed above.
For more information on the above programs call the Holocaust Resource Program at 416-785-2500, ext. 2259.
Helpful publications for caregivers of Holocaust survivors
Caring for Aging Survivors of the Holocaust: A Practice Manual
View Manual Here
Baycrest’s expertise in caring for aging Holocaust survivors is world-renowned. Now, that expertise has been put into a practical manual for health care professionals, support staff and families of aging survivors.
Caring for Aging Survivors of the Holocaust: A Practice Manual is designed to sensitize and educate caregivers about the challenges presented by this special population. The manual provides invaluable advice and strategies that can be adapted to help victims of any war or genocide.
“Our aim is to help caregivers provide the most sensitive care possible and thus enhance the quality of life for survivors everywhere,” says social worker Paula David, who spearheaded the project as Baycrest’s Holocaust Resource Coordinator.
“Family members and health care providers need contextual and practical information about how to handle challenging situations with survivors. The most effective way to respond to the needs of this diverse group is to learn about the range of experiences and trauma that they went through and then provide compassionate, sensitive and individualized care.”
The topics are wide-ranging. The section on “Understanding Survivors,” for example, includes discussions on challenges that may elicit difficult memories, environmental factors and potential triggers, and communicating with survivors (terms and translations). Another section, “Family Members as Caregivers,” focuses on topics such as caring for parents in a long-term care facility, tips for dealing with stress and tension, and lessons learned from children of survivors.
Several Baycrest health care professionals contributed articles to the manual, which was made possible with financial assistance from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Inc.
Kavod: Honoring Aging Survivors
This journal offers expert advice on caring for aging Holocaust survivors.
Social services for victims of the Holocaust have been supported by a grant from the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany