U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad

01/27/2025

Today on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, The US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, joins others around the world, to remember the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, and their families.
This day marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. While Auschwitz was liberated on January 27, before that date, thousands of prisoners were forced on death marches to other camps suffering months of starvation and deprivation. Many did not live to see liberation.
As we remember the genocide of the Jews and persecution of other victims, the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad is dedicated to preserving the cultural and historic sites left behind by N**i destruction and by the neglect of subsequent Communist oppression. These sites, associated with immigrants to the United States from Eastern and Central Europe, will not be forgotten.
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PHOTO: Rumbula, Latvia: Holocaust memorial made possible by Commission fundraising

01/27/2025

Today on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, The US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, joins others around the world, to remember the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, and their families.

This day marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. While Auschwitz was liberated on January 27, before that date, thousands of prisoners were forced on death marches to other camps suffering months of starvation and deprivation. Many did not live to see liberation.

As we remember the genocide of the Jews and persecution of other victims, the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad is dedicated to preserving the cultural and historic sites left behind by N**i destruction and by the neglect of subsequent Communist oppression. These sites, associated with immigrants to the United States from Eastern and Central Europe, will not be forgotten.

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PHOTO: Rumbula, Latvia: Holocaust memorial made possible by Commission fundraising

12/03/2024

For the last 40 years, the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad has worked on behalf of U.S. citizens to protect and preserve heritage sites in Central and Eastern Europe. Your donations help support this important work! Check out our website to learn more! www.heritageabroad.gov

05/10/2024

In honor of the Days of Remembrance for Victims of the Holocaust, we are sharing this video of our Chair Star Jones interviewing Holocaust survivor George Elbaum.

George Elbaum is a friend and supporter of the Forum for Dialogue, the oldest and largest Polish non-governmental organization engaged in Polish–Jewish dialogue.

The Commission is proud to partner with the Forum to support its diverse network of non-Jewish Poles devoted to preserving, documenting and educating their own local communities about their rich Jewish history.

https://www.heritageabroad.gov/project/forum-for-dialogue



Forum for Dialogue Star Jones Nancy K. Kaufman Jon Greenwald U.S. Embassy Warsaw

04/29/2024

Congrats on your incredible career!

In honor of your legacy, we're celebrating you by sharing the story of another , Senda Berenson Abbott. May you and all of today's players continue to enjoy this amazing game. Thank you, Candace; and THANK YOU, SENDA!

Candace Parker Star Jones JAV Ambasada Vilniuje / U.S. Embassy Vilnius
Lietuvos ambasada Vašingtone / Embassy of Lithuania in Washington, D.C. Smith College Athletics Governor Gretchen Whitmer

04/07/2024

We are proud to thank Senda Berenson Abbot for her contributions to in the United States and worldwide. She introduced basketball to the women of Smith College in 1892. Senda’s Lithuanian immigrant story lives on!



Lietuvos ambasada Vašingtone / Embassy of Lithuania in Washington, D.C.

JAV Ambasada Vilniuje / U.S. Embassy Vilnius

Smith Pioneer

https://loom.ly/0gTgQzQ

The United States Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad salutes Senda Berenson Abbott for her contributions to Women's Basketball here...

04/07/2024

Did you know that the mother of was a Jewish girl from ?

Senda Berenson Abbott was a born in Vilnius in 1868. Her family emigrated to Boston in 1875. After overcoming her own health challenges, Senda became passionate about physical education. She introduced “basket ball” to the women of Smith college in 1892, just one year after the men’s version had been invented. There she officiated the first official women’s basketball game on March 22nd, 1893. She formally published the rules of the game in 1899, and she became the first chair of the National Women’s Basketball Committee.

She has been posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

03/09/2024

Happy !

As we celebrate the contributions and lives of women around the world, we would like to highlight an important project we are working on to preserve the heritage of at the Žiežmariai Synagogue in . A majority of the synagogue’s restoration has recently been finished; however, the Women’s Balcony remains to be restored. The Women’s Balcony was the designated area within the synagogue for women to sit and pray during religious services. Our hope is that through its restoration, their lives will be commemorated.

Support this project today!
https://www.spotfund.com/story/9778f92a-8b06-4f78-a004-a096d6907054

All proceeds directly benefit the Women’s Balcony in the Žiežmariai Synagogue.

Women’s Balcony in the Žiežmariai SynagogueLithuaniaFundraising goal: $75,000Summary The Žiežmariai synagogue built in the late 19th century is one of only a handful of surviving wooden synagogues in Europe. Once Lithuania hosted around 150 wooden synagogues, but those still standing only numb...