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DonateRefugee Experiences from Around the World
USC Shoah Foundation presents 24 stories of genocide survivors who recall their experiences as refugees in their testimonies preserved in the Visual History Archive. Each clip of testimony to inspire, inform and shed light on the impact of war, genocide and massacre forcing individuals from their homes.
Also:
- 10 Interesting Facts About the Refugee Experience
- Martin Šmok’s blog about using testimony to illuminate the plight of current-day refugees in his native Czech Republic.
Kizito Kalima on the refugee camp shortly after the genocide
Language: English
June 20th is recognized by the United Nations as International Refugee Day to raise awareness of the plight of refugees around the world. Kizito Kalima, a survivor of the Rwandan Tutsi Genocide, remembers the makeshift refugee camp in the region shortly after the genocide.
Kizito Kalima on the refugee camp shortly after the genocide
Language: English
June 20th is recognized by the United Nations as International Refugee Day to raise awareness of the plight of refugees around the world. Kizito Kalima, a survivor of the Rwandan Tutsi Genocide, remembers the makeshift refugee camp in the region shortly after the genocide.
Richard Ashton remembers the Near East Relief camp
Language: English
Armenian survivor Richard Ashton describes the difficult conditions he and his family endured as they made their way to a “Near East Relief” camp. They were relieved when they arrived, until they realized cholera had broken out and many people were dying.
Norma Dimitry on being a refugee
Language: English
Testimony clip of Norma Dimitry was subtitled into Czech, for a presentation in Czech Republic on teaching about the refugee crisis with testimony.
clip of Norma Dimitry’s testimony. The clip is subtitled into Czech, just in case some of my fellow Czechs were interested in learning more about the last time our country provided at least a safe transit route if not a safe haven to a mass of people. - See more at: http://sfi.usc.edu/query?search_api_views_fulltext=Norma+Dimitry%2C+Holo...Gerda Abraham on being a refugee
Language: English
Gerda Abraham describes being a refugee and living in a displaced persons camp in Algeria.
Izak Kiven on Being a Refugee in Prague
Language: English
Izak Kiven describes the train journey to Prague and the conditions in the city for refugees after World War II. The people were very friendly and eager to help him and other survivors.
Max Wald on Galician refugee experience in Bohemia
Language: English
Max Wald describes the Galician refugee experience in Bohemia during World War I. Max was born in Berehomet in Bukovina and grew up in Sokoliki in Galicia. In September of 1914 the family escaped from the frontline and was gradually evacuated to Chrast u Chrudimi in Bohemia.
Garabed Der Minasian on escaping violence
Language: English
Armenian survivor Garabed Der Minasian describes having to pack up and leave behind his home with his family when Turkish authorities had surrounded their town. With nowhere to go, Garabed and his family were forced to leave and survive on their own.
Liesl Loeb on the ship St. Louis
Language: English
Liesl Loeb was a passenger on the German ship St. Louis. She describes the immigration quotas in the United States that limited the number of Jewish refugees allowed into the country. The ship carrying Jewish refugees who were not permitted to disembark in Havana, Cuba, upon their arrival on May 27, 1939. Liesl's testimony is featured in the IWitness activity, Voyage of the St. Louis: From Hope to Despair.
Steffi Aghassi on displaced persons camp conditions
Language: English
The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) assisted in the operation of displaced persons installations in Deggendorf, Germany, following World War II. Steffi Aghassi describes the conditions in the Deggendorf displaced persons camp and shares her incredible story as to what she personally did to change the status quo.
Elsie Taft on life as refugee
Language: English
Armenian survivor Elise Taft remembers the Turkish soldiers telling the Armenian refugees that it was for their own safety to leave their homes. She was excited to ride on a train for the first time, but quickly realized how terrible the situation was.
Vera Gissing on the Kindertransport
Language: English
Vera Gissing remembers her parents decision to send her and her sister Eva on the Kindertransport from Czechoslovakia to England in May 1939. She also describes their farewell at the train station in Prague and the journey to England. Vera’s testimony is featured in Testimony – The Legacy of Schindler’s List and the USC Shoah Foundation.
Peter Schattner on the Shanghai Ghetto
Language: English
Holocaust survivor Peter Schattner describes the living conditions of Jewish refugees in Shanghai.
Dave Lux on the Kindertransport
Language: English
Dave Lux survived the Holocaust as a child because of Nicholas Winton, who orchestrated the Czech Kindertransport, saving hundreds of Jewish children by transporting them to England. Lux remembers leaving his parents and thinking he’s going on a field trip.
Anita Lasker-Wallfisch on life as a displaced person
Language: English
Anita remembers the incredibly difficult period she spent as a displaced person after being liberated from the Bergen-Belsen camp.
Live Wesige on life in a refugee camp
Language: English
Tutsi survivor Live Wesige describes how his life changed dramatically when living in a refugee camp in Goma. Coming from a privileged family, Wesige wasn’t prepared for the means of survival.
Alfred Broch on life as a refugee in England
Language: English
Jewish survivor Alfred Broch discusses the internment process that Jewish refugees underwent in England and the various categories of freedom they were given with levels A, B and C.
Rolf Allan on MS St. Louis
Language: English
Jewish survivor Rolf Allan and his family settled in England during the war, after attempting to travel to Cuba on the St. Louis ship. They had very little with them and found it difficult to settle in, as they were not welcomed initially in England because they were German.
Louis Genjian on life as a refugee
Language: English
Armenian Survivor Louis Genjian talks about his difficult journey alongside other Armenian refugees after leaving behind their homes. At night, Turkish men would come and steal young girls and children, never to be seen again. The refugees hardly slept at night and had to keep walking every day or be left behind.
Walter Joelson on life in a refugee camp
Language: English
Jewish survivor Walter Joelson talks about his experience at Busserach, the refugee camp in Switzerland. He describes the difficult conditions he was forced to endure but says that he was simply happy to be free and not living in fear anymore. He also says that some of the Swiss people expressed kindness to him by supplying him with socks and other supplies.
Susan Dregely on life in a displaced persons camp
Language: English
Jewish survivor Susan Dregely, talks about her experience as a child in a displaced persons camp. She and the other children were able to create their own world among the many people still suffering.
Fred Anstcherl on being rejected as a refugee
Language: English
Jewish survivor Fred Anstcherl talks about being boycotted by the Swiss Jews while living as refugees in Switzerland. The indigenous Jewish community believed the Austrian and German Jewish refugees would undermine their existence, and they did not want them in their country. The Quakers and other Christian groups were very kind to the refugees by contrast.
Ruth Bernard on life as a refugee
Language: English
Jewish survivor Ruth Bernard talks about being a Jewish refugee in Stotfold, England and the difficult physical conditions they endured to obtain basic things such as water, a kitchen, and school. She remembers the farmer that she stayed with couldn’t believe that she was Jewish because she looked so normal.
Ida Chait on life as a refugee
Language: English
Jewish survivor Ida Chait talks about her experience as a Jewish refugee in Komi, Russia and having to relocate to Samarkand in cattle cars on a journey that took over 30 days. She and her family had to live on the streets of Samarkand for 6 weeks, until her father was able to get a job as a tailor.
Fritz Schulmann on being a refugee in the Philippines
Language: English
Jewish survivor Fritz Schulmann fled to the Philippines from Nazi controlled Germany in 1939. Fritz remembers his life as a refugee in the coastal town Bacolod and reflects on the generosity of his German-Filipino landlord.
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To view the entire Armenian Genocide Testimony Collection, log into the Visual History Archive Online to explore the full-length eyewitness testimonies.
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On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, listen to the testimonies of 70 Holocaust survivors, drawn from the Visual History Archive at USC Shoah Foundation, as they recall their personal experiences in the Nazi extermination camp.
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Clips of survivors recalling times in their lives during the Holocaust when they still managed to find love.
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The Kristallnacht Pogrom was an organized pogrom against Jews in Germany and Austria that occurred on November 9–10, 1938. Kristallnacht is also known as the November Pogrom, “Night of Broken Glass,” and “Crystal Night.” Orchestrated by the Nazis in retaliation for the assassination of a German embassy official in Paris by a seventeen-year-old Jewish youth named Herchel Grynzspan, 1,400 synagogues and 7,000 businesses were destroyed, almost 100 Jews were killed, and 30,000 were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
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This theme focuses on the ways in which survivors observed Jewish holidays in the ghettos and camps.
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This set of clips from the Institute's archive showcases survivors before the camera performing music that helped sustain them during the Holocaust.
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A collection of clips featuring women speaking about their experiences during the Holocaust and that appears in the study guide "Women and the Holocaust: Courage and Compassion," produced in partnership with the United Nations in 2011.
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These are survivors’ accounts of losing loved ones in the midst of genocide.
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These are accounts of life after genocide—including, but not limited to, experiences after liberation from captivity or emergence from hiding—and often includes a message for future generations.
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Liberation is typically characterized by the arrival of Allied forces. Interviewees tell of liberation from concentration camps, or during death marches, or may describe liberation upon emergence from hiding.