Jacqueline Semha Gmach

Jacqueline Semha Nataf Gmach is a Tunisian-born, Sorbonne-trained American educator. Her work focuses on Jewish culture, Sephardic history, and preserving the artistic achievements of people victimized by the Holocaust.

Early life and career Jacqueline Semha Nataf was born in Tunisia The Nataf family was a typically patriarchal North African family whose observance of Jewish laws and customs was traditional and a significant part of daily life.

In 1958, Gmach moved to Paris, France to study physics and chemistry at the Sorbonne University.

San Diego Jewish Book Fair A recurring role in Gmach's position at the JCC was curating and directing San Diego’s Jewish Book Fair, a multi-day event featuring speakers and offering a wide selection of books for sale. The 2016 book fair was described by the San Diego Union Tribune as featuring “rock music, terrorism, cooking, cyber security, Nazi Germany, Broadway musicals. journalists, novelists, playwrights, fashion experts, economists, diplomats, attorneys, rabbis, Holocaust scholars, and representatives of non-profit organizations. There were also cooking events and events for children and families

San Diego Jewish Music Festival Gmach directed the San Diego Jewish Music Festival, which sponsored performers such as violinist Zina Schiff in 2003, the Klezmatics and Joshua Nelson (“the prince of Kosher gospel) in 2008, the Afula Conservatory Symphonic Band and Choir in 2009, and A. J. Croce in 2010. The music festival was produced through the joint effort of the San Diego Lawrence Family JCC, the Berkeley Jewish Music Festival, the La Jolla Music Society, and the San Diego Symphony.

Holocaust education Gmach conducted interviews to document the experiences of Holocaust survivors from North Africa and the Middle East in conjunction with the USC Shoah Foundation. The interviewees included Tunisian-born Albert Memmi, Iraqi-born Naim Kattan, and Algerian-born winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics Claude Cohen-Tannoudji. These testimonies were recorded and the videos are included in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Collection of the Shoah Foundation.

Another educational project was an exhibit entitled “DAVKA: The Survival of a People,” which included photographs, videos, and oral histories about the lives of Holocaust survivors and their families living in San Diego. The exhibit illuminated their lives both during and after the Holocaust. The exhibit showed how the survivors emerged from one of the darkest chapters in history to develop new lives, and how they passed their memories on to future generations. Images of the survivors were displayed in diptychs, with photographs of the survivors and their descendants. Sempra Energy provided a grant for the project. Survivors who were featured in the exhibit include David Gmach, Agathe Ehrenfried Rose Schindler, Gussie Zaks, and Fanny Krasner-Lebovitz. The Davka Exhibit was the inspiration for a video installation developed by the UK Holocaust Centre entitled Generations: Survival and the Legacy of Hope, which explored the impact of the Holocaust on four families across three generations. The Generations exhibit was featured at the United Nations observance of the 2010 International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

Another project spearheaded by Gmach was an exhibit entitled “Inside Anne Frank’s House. ” The concept was inspired by the book of the same title. The exhibit was developed in conjunction with the San Diego Jewish Book Fair in 2006, with backing from Sempra and Bank of America. The exhibit was a recreation of two rooms in which the Frank and van Pels family sheltered in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation. The exhibit was a 16 by 18 foot structure which was entered through a small doorway hidden by a moveable bookcase. Along with the structure, the exhibit included a video about Anne Frank’s life, suggested discussion topics, and a worksheet for students to express their feelings about the exhibit and its subject matter. The exhibit traveled to various libraries and synagogues throughout San Diego County.

The “We Are the Tree of Life ” program is one of Gmach’s recent endeavors. The program seeks to preserve and promote literature, music, dance, poetry, and drawings developed by prisoners in World War II-era concentration camps and ghettos. The impetus for the program was the 2018 mass shooting of worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, particularly the death of Rose Malinger, the oldest (97-yr. old) victim. The shooting prompted Gmach to develop programming focusing on the use of artistic expression to survive and convey beauty in even the most challenging circumstances. The organization began with a San Diego focus, and has since expanded to other countries, especially France and Israel. Events sponsored by “We Are the Tree of Life” included an online event featuring Edith Eva Eger, a psychologist and Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor whose dance skills helped her survive. Co-sponsoring the event were the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture, the USC Shoah Foundation, and the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. The organization produced a documentary entitled Carry On, featuring works of literature, visual arts, music, and dance by people who were confined in concentration camps and ghettos during the Nazi period. The film also features contemporary performers and community leaders who are honoring Holocaust victims by showing the works of art they left behind. The film was produced by Clint Burkett, and cast members included Stephen D. Smith, Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation; Lauren Bairnsfather, Director of The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh; Peter Yarrow, singer, songwriter, and activist; Francesco Lotoro, pianist/composer and co-founder of Instituto di Letteratura Musicale Concentrazionara (a non-profit organization that protects and promotes music written in concentration camps); guitarist Pepe Romero; and Jacqueline Semha Gmach and her daughter, singer and composer Yael Gmach. IMAX producer Alan G. Markowitz joined later as a creative consultant and producer.

Books Gmach is the author of “From Bombolini to Bagel: A Story of Two Worlds," a memoir, “The Antiphonary of Love: The Call of the Scroll" and "Aberration or Stupidity: Be Kind. "

Awards and accolades

Recipient of the 2008 Marla Bennett Humanitarian award Recipient of the 2011 San Diego KPBS/Union Bank Hero for Jewish Education Described by the San Diego Legends Project of the San Diego County Library as a San Diego legend Juror in the 5th Moscow Jewish Film Festival (2019) Community outreach coordinator for San Diego State University's Initiative for Moral Courage (IMC), a program focusing on the recognition of moral courage Project Director for the Sephardi Mizrahi Testimony Collection at the University of Southern California