Abstract
In spring 2004 the Sue and Leonard Miller Center of Judaic Studies and Weinberg Tzedek Hillel, a division of the Hillel Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, launched the ICHEIC Service Corps (ISC). Funded by the International Commission for Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC), the program was offered to students at the University of Miami and five New York City colleges, including both public and private institutions. During the 2005-06 academic year, the program continued at the University of Miami and at four of the original New York schools. By providing support to elderly Nazi victims through the use of college-age friendly visitors, the ISC sought to address two concerns of the Jewish community. One goal was to provide companionship to Nazi victims as they age. The second goal of the ISC was to engage Jewish college students in an experience with the potential to strengthen their Jewish identity, their capacity to serve in leadership positions, and most importantly, their personal connection to and knowledge of the Holocaust. This report provides a summary of the findings of research conducted by the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies (CMJS) on the 2005-06 ISC program. The purpose of the research was multifold: to understand the impact of the ISC on both students and survivors, to provide program administrators with feedback related to the continued development of the program, and to understand the potential to export the program to other sites in the U.S. and abroad.