Our Top Stories of 2018

Thu, 12/20/2018 - 12:30pm

Friday, December 7, 2018

USC Shoah Foundation Finci-Viterbi Executive Director Stephen Smith delivered remarks Friday at a special event at the United Nations marking the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the international law that defined genocide and held perpetrators accountable. The observance also featured a demonstration of the Institute’s Dimensions in Testimony interactive biographies that enable people to ask questions and instantly receive pre-recorded responses from Holocaust survivors.

Nearly 10,000 students see ‘Schindler’s List’ in free educational screenings

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Steven Spielberg, founder of USC Shoah Foundation and director and co-producer of the film, says there has never been a more important time for students to see the historical period drama. “Hate is less parenthetical today, and it’s more a headline," he told Lester Holt of NBC Nightly News in an interview about the rerelease.

Kristallnacht conference convened scholars from around the world

Friday, November 30, 2018

The event hosted by USC Shoah Foundation’s Center for Advanced Genocide Research appears to have been the only international academic conference to mark the 80th anniversary of this fateful event of November 1938, during which Nazis and ordinary Germans murdered more than 100 Jews and destroyed thousands of synagogues, Jewish institutions, stores and homes across Germany.

USC Shoah Foundation opens new office, kicks off 25th anniversary commemoration

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual history and Education embarked on a new chapter on Tuesday when it unveiled its new global headquarters on the USC campus.

The event also marked the start of the Institute’s 25th anniversary, a time that will propel its work into new frontiers as it continues its mission of sharing the 55,000 testimonies of survivors of the Holocaust and other genocides to foster empathy and respect.

USC Shoah Foundation Honors Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks at the 2018 Ambassadors for Humanity Gala

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

In recognition of their longstanding commitment to humanitarian causes and support of veterans, Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks were presented the Ambassador for Humanity Award by Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg, USC trustee and founder of USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education.

Institute celebrates three events in Europe

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

USC Shoah Foundation Executive Director Stephen Smith gave the keynote address at a conference with Holocaust educators located at the site of the Warsaw Ghetto. In the U.K, he attended events celebrating the launch of the Visual History Archive at the University of Oxford. USC Shoah Foundation Director of Global Outreach Karen Jungblut was also in Poland and then attended an event in Hungary to celebrate the launch of the Visual History Archive at 40 Hungarian institutions.

USC Shoah Foundation Presents Testimonies at 73rd Session of United Nations General Assembly

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

A film by USC Shoah Foundation featuring video testimonies on current antisemitism opened a high-level panel Wednesday organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) titled, “The Power of Education for Countering Racism and Discrimination: The Case of Anti-Semitism,” at the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly. 

Rohingya testimonies added to Visual History Archive

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

The integration of the new collection means the Archive now represents nine genocidal events. USC Shoah Foundation last month added 11 Rohingya video interviews -- as well as 77 testimonies from other collections -- to its ever-expanding Archive.

UNESCO to use new USC Shoah Foundation testimonies in initiative to counter rising antisemitism

Friday, June 1, 2018

UNESCO’s push is part of a wider effort to address rising incidents of antisemitic events, which in recent years have ranged from online hate speech to physical violence.

USC Shoah Foundation Adds Large Collection of Armenian Genocide Testimony to its Archive

Thursday, March 8, 2018

The more than 1,000 interviews will constitute the largest non-Holocaust-related collection to be integrated into the Institute’s Visual History Archive. It will also be the Archive’s first audio-only collection.

Media coverage of the Institute

NY TIMES: Steven Spielberg on Storytelling’s Power to Fight Hate

December 18, 2018

The director is reissuing “Schindler’s List,” as he expands the mission of the Shoah Foundation through video testimonies of genocide survivors.

By Adam Popescu

CLEVELAND MAGAZINE: New Technology Helps Tell Holocaust Survivors' Stories

December 3, 2018

The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage preserves Holocaust survivors' stories with interactive technology.

CNN: 'Everybody's talking about them, but who's talking with them?': Documenting Rohingyas' stories

August 26, 2018

By Alexandra King

NBC NIGHTLY NEWS: Spielberg, 25 years after 'Schindler's List,' warns against collective hate

December 5, 2018

"When collective hate organizes and gets industrialized, then genocide follows," the legendary director said.

By Alexa Keyes

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: 'The Last Goodbye' at Holocaust Museum offers survivor's virtual tour of concentration camp

October 9, 2018

Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter takes viewers on an emotional tour through the Majdanek Nazi concentration camp in Poland in the virtual reality film "The Last Goodbye" running through Jan. 27, 2019 at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie. (USC Shoah Foundation)

By Myrna Petlicki

L.A. BUSINESS JOURNAL: 'Hamilton' Designer to Direct Projects for USC Shoah Foundation

October 17, 2018

By Matthew Blake