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About Safekeeping Stories

“May we connect the dots of the past in a way that leaves a legacy for the future.”

—Jill Sarkozi, Founder

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About Safekeeping Stories

“May we connect the dots of the past in a way that leaves a legacy for the future.”

—Jill Sarkozi, Founder

Subscribe

We Know the Power of a Multi-Generational Story

At Safekeeping Stories, we guide people to explore, write, and share their family stories to pass down a wealth of family understanding to their children and grandchildren.

Research consistently underscores the immense power of family stories, culture, and traditions in building strong family bonds and resilient children.

We specialize in recent family history—the lives and legacies of parents and grandparents—because our participants have the power, with the information they know, to foster meaningful connection and understanding across five generations of their family when they share stories they write with their kids and grandkids.

The Storykeeping® Method

Our unique approach empowers everyone, regardless of their writing abilities, to craft a family history about topics that matter in a concise, relevant, engaging narrative, and that’s easy to share. You don’t need to be a skilled or devoted writer to create a multi-generational family legacy. We know you are busy, and writing your story can feel overwhelming—we’ve designed our method for you.

Give your children a meaningful story about their family.

JOIN A WORKSHOP WAITLIST

The Safekeeping Stories Team

Meet our team of dedicated professionals who share our commitment to preserving family legacies:

Jill Sarkozi

Founder, Safekeeping Stories

I am deeply committed to helping people write a short and meaningful family story and create a multi-generational legacy. I developed the Storykeeping® method to simplify the process and enable anyone to craft their family story within the time constraints of busy modern lives.

When I was in my 40s, I learned about my paternal grandparents — people I didn’t really know growing up. My parents divorced when I was young, and their focus was on moving forward, looking toward the future rather than discussing the past. I was surprised when I found a box of family letters, photos, and newspaper clippings, and saw myself in my grandparents. I felt a profound sense of understanding, rootedness, and belonging. If only I’d known more about my grandparents’ lives growing up!

With my children, I wanted to discuss our family’s past in a meaningful and relevant way. I began by helping my father-in-law, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor, write the story of his family. Working with him on this project was deeply moving, especially when he shared his completed story with us. My husband was grateful to hear stories he’d never heard from before, during, and after the war. We were amazed at how much his story resonated with our children; pride in their heritage grew each time they recounted it to others. Bringing our family’s past into the present deepened our connection to each other and transformed us all. His family story was now 𝗼𝘂𝗿 family story. I wanted other families to have this experience! 

Since then, I’ve helped hundreds of families write and share their stories. More than a decade of research and experience with participants has gone into developing the Storykeeping® method and our Storykeeping® workshops. I am particularly proud of our Safekeeping Stories of the Holocaust Workshop, designed specifically for children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, which has enabled them to preserve, honor, and share their families’ legacies.

Ellen Kaidanow

Program Facilitator

Ellen completed the Safekeeping Stories of the Holocaust Workshop program, trained to become a program facilitator, and has been leading workshops since 2018. She shares the story of her mother-in-law, also named Ellen Kaidanow, in schools to inspire people to be “upstanders” instead of bystanders.

Debby Ziering

Program Facilitator

Debby completed the Safekeeping Stories of the Holocaust Workshop program, trained to become a program facilitator, and has been leading workshops since 2018. The Ziering family story, as told by Debby, is recounted in the Herman and Lea Ziering Archive Center at The Holocaust, Genocide, and Interfaith Center at Manhattan College. Debby is the daughter of two Holocaust survivors and shares her father’s story in educational settings.

Bill Zimmerman

Program Facilitator

Bill completed the Safekeeping Stories of the Holocaust Workshop program, trained to become a program facilitator, and has been leading workshops since 2021. Bill spent 36 years as an educator, including over a decade teaching at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. He is the son of two Holocaust survivors and shares his father’s story as a Gallery Educator at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan.

Paul Sarkozi

Business and Legal Advisor

Paul Sarkozi is Chair of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department at Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP in New York City. He has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in NYC for over a decade. Paul is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School. Paul’s father, grandparents, and uncle survived the Holocaust.

We Are A Member Of:

The Safekeeping Stories Program is of tremendous value to the participants and their families. Prior to this program, the remembrances of my father’s family was a collection of pictures, documents, video recordings and extensive verbal recollections. The carefully designed writing assignments, excellent teaching by Ellen Kaidanow and class interactions enabled me to craft this large collection of information into a flowing narrative that brought my ancestors to life and into historical perspective.
—Howard Reissner
Writing my mother’s and grandmother’s Holocaust story has been a meaningful journey for me. When I first heard about the Safekeeping Stories class, I was excited to take on this project but hesitant since I didn’t think I had enough information to write about. I was also concerned because I didn’t have a writing background. None of that proved to be an obstacle. The writing took place weekly in small, manageable pieces, or slices as Jill refers to them. She really helped me to flesh out the story and write it in my own voice. I’m grateful for her thoughtful feedback and guidance throughout the workshop, helping me turn a project that felt insurmountable a year ago, into a tangible, family keepsake.
—Janine Marlowe
“I can’t thank you enough for all I’ve gotten from the Safekeeping Stories Workshop experience. It provided just the right combination of structure, encouragement, gentle coaching and opportunities to share with our group. These are meaningful family stories that could have stopped with me, but now they have been preserved for my children and future generations.”
—Dr. Robert Stark

Safekeeping Your Story Is an Invitation

Writing your story—and the stories of your parents and grandparents —is an invitation to explore who you are and where you come from. To find the words to share that with your children is profound: your stories are their stories.

Find joy in connecting to your parents and grandparents with a newfound perspective as you see them in their time as people with challenges, successes, heartbreak, and love.

Experience the relief of knowing your family history is written down and the sense of purpose in creating a legacy for the generations to come. You may be the person in the family uniquely suited to provide understanding and meaning for all, including yourself.

Thank you for considering Safekeeping Stories as your partner in preserving your family history. We look forward to helping you create a story that your family will cherish for generations to come.

Warm regards,

Jill Sarkozi
Founder, Safekeeping Stories