Videos by Topic
DonateRefugee Experiences from Around the World
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.
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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A series of clips featuring survivors recalling the difficulties of voting before and during the war in Europe and how it impacted their appreciation of the importance of participating in the democratic process.
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A collection of Jewish survivors and other eyewitnesses to the Holocaust describe watching the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. In preparation for the start of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, the Nazis in power decided to minimize the presence of anti-Semitism in the city.
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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.
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A collection of testimony clips from WWII liberators who served in the United States Armed Forces.
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From April to July 1994, one of the most brutal genocides in human history occurred in Rwanda. It claimed the lives of 800,000 men, women, and children, most of whom were of Tutsi descent. Kwibuka, the official anniversary of the Rwandan Tutsi Genocide, is observed every year on April 7. Explore this selection of testimony clips of survivors and eyewitnesses to the genocide from the Visual History Archive.
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At the end of each interview the Institute recorded for the Archive, the interviewer would ask the interviewee if he or she had a special message for future generations watching the interview. The survivors and other witnesses often spoken about such themes as forgiveness, the importance of individual action, and the need to teach children tolerance. Here are a few messages from the Institute's Archive.
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Several people responded to active discrimination by helping the victims in different ways. This is a collection of clips highlighting testimony from survivors and aid givers themselves. One question that sometimes emerges in these clips is "what made you stand up to discrimination and racial intolerance?"
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A series of clips from survivors speaking about their experiences with personal as well as institutional forms of discrimination. These clips include testimonies from the European Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda collections.
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A collection of clips from the Institute Archive that focus on interviewees describing particular feelings and emotions they experienced, such as fear, gratitude, and attitudes about others.
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Possibly the most well-known example of these rescue operations involved individual British families agreeing to “host” children from Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic through a program known as Kindertransport. Through this program, organized by Sir Nicholas Winton, an estimated 10,000 refugee children, most of them Jewish, were housed in the United Kingdom during the war. These children were able to avoid ghettoization and camp experiences; in many cases, they were the only members of their families to survive the Holocaust.