Join us for a special discussion with two Tucson Festival of Books 2025 featured authors! Joel Waldman and Mimi Zieman, both authors of deeply personal works, will sit on a panel with Raisa Moroz, a local descendant of survivors for a discussion on literary voice and the experience of growing up as a child/grandchild of Jewish Holocaust survivors.
Joel Waldman is the co-host of the hit true-crime podcast and now book, Surviving the Survivor, and an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist who worked most recently as a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent for Fox News, covering national politics from Capitol Hill. He has also worked as an investigative reporter for Fox 5 in New York City and for TV-news programs in West Palm Beach, Miami and Tucson. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife, Ileana, and his three children, Vida, Zizi, and Judah.
Doctor Mimi Zieman is the author of an award-winning memoir, Tap Dancing on Everest and a play, The Post-Roe Monologues. As an OB/GYN, she has also co-authored 17 editions of Managing Contraception. Her writing has appeared in USA Today, Newsweek, Ms. Magazine, NBC News THINK, The Forward, and other publications.
Raisa Moroz immigrated to the United States from Belarus in 1996, seeking refuge from widespread anti-Semitism in the former Soviet Union. Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS) of Southern Arizona resettled the family, and Raisa secured her first U.S. job with JFCS. She later joined the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, where she worked for nearly 12 years. Beginning as the New American Program Coordinator, Raisa deepened her knowledge of Judaism and Jewish culture, supporting Jewish families from the Former Soviet Union who resettled in Tucson. As her expertise grew, she contributed to events hosted by the Department of Jewish Education & Identity and the Jewish Federation.
In January 2004, Raisa expanded her role to include Adult Program Coordinator, while continuing her work as New American Program Coordinator. By November 2004, she added the position of Florence Melton Adult Mini-School Director to her responsibilities. In 2009, Raisa returned to JFCS as a Case Manager for the Holocaust Survivor Program and was promoted to Program Manager shortly thereafter.
With a passion for preserving the personal histories of Holocaust survivors, Raisa began encouraging her Russian-speaking clients to document their life stories. She provided a list of questions to guide their writing. Realizing that language barriers might limit the reach of these stories, she partnered with volunteer Richard Fenwick, a retired U.S. Air Force Russian translator. Fenwick translated Russian texts, transcribed verbal recordings as the project grew, and reviewed English-written accounts from Western European survivors. Their collaborative efforts resulted in two remarkable volumes titled To Tell Our Stories: Holocaust Survivors in Southern Arizona.
Raisa's expertise and leadership have been recognized beyond local JFCS. In November 2023, Raisa was invited by the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies (NJHSA) to co-chair two NETGroups: one for Holocaust Survivor Services Professionals and another for Holocaust Survivor Services Program Managers and Supervisors. Most recently, Raisa was promoted to Director of Holocaust Survivor Services.
This event is free but registration is required.
LOCATION:
Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center
564 S. Stone Ave
Tucson, AZ 85701
& Zoom