Eighty Years Later: A Survivor and His Liberator Meet Again

Eighty years after the end of World War II, a remarkable reunion took place at the USC Shoah Foundation—one that brought history into the present in a deeply human way.

Andrew Roth, a Holocaust survivor who endured imprisonment at Buchenwald after losing much of his family at Auschwitz, met Jack Moran, a U.S. soldier who helped liberate the camp in 1945. Though their lives had been shaped by the same moment in history, the two men had never met—until now.

Their reunion, hosted at the Institute, was a convergence of memory, testimony, and lived experience. The interview that followed showed two perspectives on a single moment that changed the course of both of their lives.

Roth survived the Holocaust through a combination of resilience, resourcefulness, and chance. Moran, then a young soldier, entered Buchenwald as part of the Allied forces confronting the unimaginable realities of the Nazi camp system. Decades later, sitting side by side, they reflected on what they witnessed and on what it means to carry those memories forward.

Together, they recorded a conversation for the USC Shoah Foundation’s podcast, Searching for Never Again, contributing to the Institute’s ongoing efforts to preserve firsthand accounts of the Holocaust and ensure their continued relevance for future generations.

“We are at this tipping point where the history could be lost, or it could remain relevant for future generations,” said Robert Williams, CEO and Finci-Viterbi Chair of the USC Shoah Foundation, in a recent interview with The Washington Post. “We are living through a moment when both survivors and liberators are passing very quickly, and with them, their irreplaceable stories.”

Moments like this underscore the urgency of the Institute’s mission. As the number of living witnesses dwindles, the opportunity to document, connect, and share these stories becomes ever more critical.

The reunion of Roth and Moran also resonated far beyond the room. A social media post sharing their story reached more than one million people, a milestone that reflects a growing public desire to engage with firsthand testimony and the human stories behind history.

Their full conversation offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from both a survivor and his liberator—two voices bound by a shared moment in history, reflecting on its meaning eight decades later.

Listen to the full episode of Searching for Never Again to hear their story in their own words.

You can also read more about their reunion in coverage by NPR.