TORONTO — To mark the 30th anniversary of Holocaust Education Week, being held Nov. 1 to 9, all programs will highlight the importance of survivors’ testimony.

Mira Goldfarb, executive director of the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre, part of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, said that this is the first time HEW has revolved around a single theme.

The opening program, Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m. at Adath Israel Congregation, features Stephen Smith, executive director of the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation Institute and one of the world’s leading advocates of Holocaust education and genocide prevention, and Toronto Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter.

For several years, Smith and Gutter “have explored the life that resides in Pinchas’ memory,” and during the program, sponsored by the Joseph Gottdenker Family Foundation, they will talk about how both beautiful and terrifying memory can be.

The closing program and Kristallnacht commemoration, 8 p.m. at Shaarei Shomayim Congregation, is titled “May your Memory be Love,” and features Ephraim Kaye, director of international seminars at the International School For Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

He will present a project developed with Hebrew University and Yad Vashem that preserves the legacies of Holocaust survivors by producing eight films that follow eight survivors as they journey back to their birthplaces.

The evening, sponsored by Yad Vashem – the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority and the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem, will also commemorate the 72nd anniversary of Kristallnacht, and honour Jewish war veterans.

Goldfarb said that in an effort to target every community and every age group, there are programs offered in Hebrew, Russian and French.

A program at Aurora High School on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m., recommended for students over 13 and their parents and grandparents, will feature the testimony of George Berman, who was born in Poland in 1923 and lived in the Lodz Ghetto between 1940 and 1944 before being deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he lost his parents.

Also on Nov. 4, Robert Adam, the grandson of four Hungarian survivors, will be featured at a church-sponsored program at St. James Cathedral, 7 p.m. While in medical school, Adam wrote a musical inspired by the life of his grandmother, Lily Lerner, who was a strong advocate for Holocaust education. He combined her testimony with specific musical numbers.

The program features the vocal performance of Renee Barda, accompanied by Dorothy Krizmanic, an organist and chamber musician, and Gideon Wilk, a clarinetist and pianist.

A half-day symposium for people in their 20s and 30s will be held at the Wolfond Centre for Jewish Campus Life on Nov. 7. “Legacy: A Symposium Exploring the Future of Holocaust Remembrance” will consist of discussions and presentations on such topics as the Holocaust in Pop Culture, Would You Buy a BMW?, and Teaching the Holocaust. It will conclude with “Holocaust Remembrance in the year 2050” facilitated by Shelley Hornstein, a York University professor of architectural history and visual culture.

The program is a partnership with Hillel of Toronto and March of the Living Toronto, as well as the Annex Shul, Beth Tzedec young professionals, Birthright Alumni Community, The House, Jewski, Impact Toronto, JUMP and Shaarei Shomayim young professionals.

On Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m. at Beth Torah Congregation, Constanze Beckman will give a piano recital featuring pieces of composers who suffered during the Holocaust.

For information on all programs, visit www.holocausteducationweek.com.