Project Witness - Ruth Lichtenstein

What Project Witness - Ruth Lichtenstein does

Project Witness is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2009 by Dr. Ruth Lichtenstein, a Holocaust survivor and educator, and headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. The organization develops Holocaust education materials — including textbooks ($79), teacher's guides ($50), documentary films (rentals at $4.99, passes at $19.99), speaker programs, and teacher training — produced with sensitivity to the Orthodox Jewish community and grounded in primary sources and survivor testimony. Its content has been adopted by hundreds of schools nationwide and is distributed through partnerships with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the New York State Education Department (NYSED), the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE), the USC Shoah Foundation, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, YIVO, and Yeshiva University.

The organization's technology footprint centers on the Digital Learning Hub, launched in beta in 2025 as an online platform bundling curriculum, films, and the planned Witness to History ScholarBot — an AI assistant designed to retrieve Holocaust history with citations and source verification, targeted for late 2025. Recent content additions include the "We Dared to Write" documentary (premiered July 2025) and a new Anti-Antisemitism training module piloted with 50+ NYC DOE educators that achieved a 4.19 out of 5 satisfaction rating.

Project Witness generates revenue through a diversified mix of low-ticket educational product sales, donations, and likely institutional grants. Commercial channels span institutional licensing to K-12 schools and Jewish day schools, consumer film rentals and passes, donations, and fee-based speaker and educator programs. Forward strategy emphasizes multi-city geographic expansion (Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Boston, Washington, DC), a virtual Educators Series delivery model, and digitized archival work supported publicly by Senator Schumer and the National Iranian American Council (NIAC).

Name

Project Witness - Ruth Lichtenstein

Legal name

Project Witness

Website

https://projectwitness.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Project Witness is a Brooklyn-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2009 by Holocaust survivor Dr. Ruth Lichtenstein that produces Holocaust curricula, documentary films, teacher training, and a new Digital Learning Hub used by hundreds of schools nationwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Holocaust Education

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Human Rights Organizations (813311), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Libraries and Archives (519210)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDADALAG

Refugee, Crisis & Humanitarian Education Partnerships (EiE)

Education/Education Administration, Accreditation & Policy/Education Partnerships, Intergovernmental & NGO Programs

SECONDARYBPAGAAAG

Protection, Child Protection & Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Response

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Humanitarian Aid & Disaster Relief

SECONDARYMPADADAN

True Crime Documentaries

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Film & Video Production/Distribution/Documentary & Nonfiction Production

Keywords

• Holocaust education
• Teacher training
• Documentary films
• Educational curriculum
• Survivor testimony

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Educational Materials Sales: Sales of textbooks, teacher's guides, student workbooks, and curriculum materials. Includes the flagship Witness to History textbook ($79), Teacher's Guide ($50), and various standalone educational units ranging from $3 to $100.
2. Documentary and Video Content: Sales and rentals of documentary films. Individual film rentals at $4.99, Nine-Day passes at $19.99, Single-Day passes at $9.99, and all-access summer showcase passes at $19.99.
3. Donations and Contributions: Tax-deductible donations from individuals supporting Holocaust education. One-time and monthly donation options available through the website, processed securely through Stripe.
4. Teacher Training and Professional Development: Revenue from educator training modules, including the Anti-Antisemitism: Pedagogy for Countering Jew-Hatred training module. CTLE credits offered through NYC DOE partnership.
5. Speaker Programs: Fees for Holocaust survivor speakers and expert speakers for school and community events. Services available to address students and summer campers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Project Witness is a nonprofit Holocaust resource center that sells and distributes Holocaust-focused curricula (including the Witness to History textbook and Project H.E.A.R.T. curriculum), educational documentary films, stand-alone DVD teaching units, CTLE-certified teacher training modules, and survivor speaker programs to schools, community centers, and the general public. The organization complements these offerings with the Digital Learning Hub online platform and an AI-powered ScholarBot for Holocaust research.

Product overview

Project Witness is a nonprofit Holocaust resource center offering a portfolio of educational products and services for public schools, private schools, community centers, and the general public. The core product is the Witness to History comprehensive textbook and the Project H.E.A.R.T. curriculum, supplemented by an extensive library of stand-alone educational units (The Nazi Propaganda Machine, Power of the Niggun, Remember the Children, etc.), documentary films (We Dared to Write, Devorah's Hope, Spirit of Survival, etc.), and the Digital Learning Hub platform. Additional offerings include teacher training modules, the Remember the Children Passport Program, survivor speaker services, and virtual webinar series like the Educators Series 2026.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Witness to History Textbook A 636-page comprehensive Holocaust History textbook edited by Dr. Ruth Lichtenstein, covering European history from Bismarck through the Holocaust with documents, memoirs, maps, charts, and video content. Designed for high school Holocaust education programs and used by hundreds of schools nationwide.
• Project H.E.A.R.T. Curriculum Holocaust Education Advances Respect and Tolerance — a comprehensive educational curriculum using survivor testimonies, documentary films, interactive student workbooks ($3 each), and teacher's guides ($5 each) to teach students about the Holocaust while fostering values of mutual respect and tolerance.
• Witness to History Teacher's Guide Teacher's guide providing guidelines for preparing stimulating and inspiring lessons, with lesson plans accompanying each chapter of the Witness to History textbook. Sold at $50 per copy.
• Anti-Antisemitism Educator Training Module Self-paced CTLE-certified professional development module for teachers covering antisemitism pedagogy from antiquity to today. Includes a 60-minute self-paced course, printable lesson plans, microlearning modules, and a Google Notebook Learning podcast version. Developed in partnership with NYC DOE with plans to expand nationwide to NYC, LA, Chicago, Miami, Boston, and Washington D.C.
• The Little Giant of Vilna Documentary Animated short documentary telling the story of Yitskhok Rudashevski, a Jewish teenager from the Vilna Ghetto who documented life under Nazi occupation through his diary.
• We Dared to Write Documentary Animated documentary featuring five teenage Holocaust diarists (Moshe Flinker, Ruthka Lieblich, Rywka Lipszyc, Yitskhok Rudashevski, and Anita Budding Meyer) brought to life through claymation-inspired 3D animation and transitioning to live-action segments for living diarists including Anita Budding Meyer and Peter Feigl.
• Devorah's Hope Documentary Dramatized documentary telling the true story of Devorah Mostovicz's survival, faith, and resilience during the Holocaust.
• Spirit of Survival Documentary Documentary featuring four Holocaust survivors sharing their pain, hope, and enduring faith as a testament to the spirit of survival.
• Project Witness Educators Series 2026 Virtual webinar series from January through April 2026 featuring international scholars on Holocaust education topics including DP camps, Vaad Hatzalah, Orthodox testimony, AI in education, and antisemitism.
• Summer Film Showcase Annual film showcase during the Nine Days featuring 10 acclaimed Holocaust documentaries streaming for at-home viewing, including We Dared to Write and Devorah's Hope. Available via Single-Day Pass ($9.99), Nine-Day All-Access Pass ($19.99), or individual film rental ($4.99).
• Holocaust Survivor Speaker Program Program providing Holocaust survivors and experts as speakers for schools, community centers, corporate and governmental training, public screenings, and summer campers.
• Digital Learning Hub Modular online learning platform combining storytelling, scholarship, and technology for Holocaust and antisemitism education. Features Teacher Training Modules, Animated Storytelling Learning Modules, Documentary Integration, Gamified Learning and Critical Thinking Tools, and an AI-powered Witness to History ScholarBot that answers questions backed by primary and secondary sources with citations and historical images.
• Remember the Children Passport Program Interactive educational program for grades 5-8 where students create passports for Holocaust victims, helping personalize the historical experience through Mishnayos learning and weekly raffles.
• Stand-Alone Educational Units (DVD Curriculum Modules) Portfolio of stand-alone DVD-based educational units suitable for Yom Iyun or school assemblies. Includes The Nazi Propaganda Machine, Power of the Niggun, The Jewish Star, We Are All One, Sacrifice and Rebuild (Kindertransports), Sheilos and Teshuvos for Mesivtas, and Remember the Children. Priced individually from $15 to $100.
• Documentary Film Library (Additional Films) Extended documentary film library including Red White and Jew (antisemitism on Ivy League and public school campuses), Hidden (Jewish children concealed during the Holocaust), Once Upon a Family (800-year history of Polish Jewry), In the Footsteps of the Giant (Rabbi Michoel Ber Weissmandl), In One Split Second (destruction of Hungarian Jewry), Rosja (Jews deported to Siberia), Daring to Rescue, The Lens Reveals (Warsaw Ghetto), and free Microshort Stories.

Quantifiable outcome

• Teacher preparedness to teach antisemitism topics scored 4.06/5 in NYC pilot program
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Senator Charles Schumer / NIACcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025National Interest Action Committee (NIAC) support facilitated by Senator Charles Schumer for launching a groundbreaking digital archive to preserve Jewish history and Holocaust-era testimony. Digitizing and opening public access to a major private collection documenting Orthodox Jewish life, leadership, and resilience.
• National Archives (NARA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial partner organization supporting Project Witness's mission. National Archives provides institutional credibility and potential archival access for Holocaust documentation and historical materials.
• New York State Education Department (NYSED)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState education authority partnership for endorsing and distributing Project Witness educational resources to schools across New York State.
• NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity agency partnership supporting community education programs and youth-focused Holocaust education initiatives in New York City.
• NYC Department of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPilot partnership for Anti-Antisemitism teacher training module. Over 50 NYC public school teachers completed the CTLE-certified professional development program. Expanded rollout planned for Fall 2025.
• USC Shoah FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization supporting Holocaust education. The Shoah Foundation is known for preserving survivor testimonies and fighting antisemitism through education.
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPremier Holocaust memorial and educational institution partnership. USHMM is a leading authority on Holocaust remembrance and education.
• YIVO Institute for Jewish ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner specializing in Yiddish and East European Jewish studies. YIVO provides scholarly expertise and archival resources for Holocaust education.
• Yeshiva University (YU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership with Yeshiva University, Dr. Lichtenstein's institutional affiliation. Supports Orthodox Jewish perspectives in Holocaust education.
• Muzeum Historii Żydow Polskich (Museum of the History of Polish Jews)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational museum partnership for preserving and presenting Polish Jewish history and Holocaust memory.
• YVSHminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization in Holocaust education and Jewish heritage preservation.
• ZIH (Żydowski Instytut Historyczny)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJewish Historical Institute partnership for historical documentation and education about Jewish history including the Holocaust.
• CentropaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJewish heritage organization focused on preserving Jewish memory in Central and Eastern Europe through oral histories and educational programs.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• YIVO Institute for Jewish Research: YIVO preserves Yiddish/East European Jewish heritage through archives and scholarship, providing archival resources to Project Witness for digitization/translation. Adjacent enabling institution for Project Witness content.

Regional players

• Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust: NYC-based Holocaust museum offering curricula, survivor testimony programs, and educator resources. Geographic overlap and similar mission for school-based Holocaust education in the New York metro area.

Direct peers

• USC Shoah Foundation: USC Shoah Foundation preserves Holocaust and other survivor testimonies and develops educational content for schools. Both organizations deliver Holocaust testimony-based curricula, teacher training, and partner on shared mission (Project Witness lists Shoah as a partner).
• Centropa: Centropa preserves Jewish memory in Central and Eastern Europe through oral histories and educational programs. Listed as a Project Witness partner and shares the niche of Jewish heritage education for schools.
• Echoes & Reflections (ADL): Echoes & Reflections, led by ADL, USC Shoah Foundation, and Yad Vashem, delivers Holocaust educator training and curricula to U.S. schools. Competes head-to-head in teacher professional development and curriculum sales.
• Facing History and Ourselves: Facing History provides Holocaust and human rights curricula, professional development, and classroom resources for middle and high school educators. Directly competes with Project Witness for school curriculum adoption and teacher training budgets.
• March of the Living: International educational program bringing Holocaust survivors and students to Auschwitz. Competes/coordinates in delivering experiential Holocaust education content for schools and Jewish communities.

Broad incumbents

• Yad Vashem: Israel's official Holocaust memorial and education center producing global curricula, teacher training, and survivor testimony archives. Overlaps with Project Witness's curriculum and educator development missions.
• Simon Wiesenthal Center / Museum of Tolerance: Simon Wiesenthal Center operates Holocaust education, antisemitism combating programs, and the Museum of Tolerance. Overlaps with Project Witness's anti-antisemitism educator training and Holocaust curriculum offerings.
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM): USHMM is the U.S. premier Holocaust memorial and educational institution producing curricula, exhibits, and educator resources. Project Witness cites USHMM as a partner, and they overlap directly in delivering Holocaust education to schools.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/projectwitness

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Project Witness - Ruth Lichtenstein