Abstract
The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), with support from the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC), has developed a summer camp program in St. Petersburg, Russia. Developed in collaboration with the local Jewish community, the goal of the camp program is to “strengthen Holocaust awareness and education as a means to build Jewish literacy and identity among youth in the Former Soviet Union.” Approximately 600 children participated in three distinct three-week camps, one administered by JAFI directly, one by Adain Lo (St. Petersburg’s Jewish Community Center), and one by Chabad of St. Petersburg. An evaluation team from the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University conducted a systematic assessment. The objective was to assess the impact of the camps’ educational programs on campers and their families, specifically focusing on the degree to which the camping experience strengthened knowledge of the Holocaust and enhanced participants’ Jewish identity. The evaluation extends a previous process evaluation study conducted by the Cohen Center and focused on the degree to which camps met the long-term objectives of the ICHEIC program to enhance understanding of the Holocaust and to build Jewish identity. The study included two components: an observational study of the camp environment and a follow-up study (3-4 months later) of campers and parents.