Get to know Joel Poremba
Joel Poremba brings the unique and timely perspective of the child of Holocaust survivors to the teacher attendees of our symposium. As Holocaust survivors age and pass away, we as educators are potentially left with an educational void. But the children of survivors- the 2nd generation- can provide us with not only the personal accounts of the survivors themselves, but their own stories as children of survivors as well.
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We are both honored and excited to have Joel Poremba join us for our first Annual Holocaust Teachers of America Symposium.
My Story
Joel Poremba is a business attorney with twenty-three years of litigation experience in both state and federal courts. He represents small and medium-sized companies in complex business disputes and handles insurance defense matters. Prior to this, Joel litigated against billion dollar insurance companies over breached disability policies. He is a graduate of Western State University, College of Law and the University of California, San Diego with a degree in political science. Joel is the son of Holocaust survivor, Nathan Poremba. Stunned after hearing his father give his testimony to the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive in 1998, it took another 21 years and an inspiring trip to Israel for Joel to finally watch his father’s video testimony. Determined, Joel subsequently sat down and further interviewed his father about the details of his Holocaust survival. In total, it took 52 years for this Holocaust memoir to be written, a story of resilience, resistance and triumph.