In April 1994, the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation (today the USC Shoah Foundation) was founded with the goal to record 50,000 interviews of Holocaust survivors and witnesses so that they could teach future generations about genocide, racism and intolerance.

That same month, the Rwanda Tutsi Genocide began. It would ultimately claim as many as one million lives and demonstrated that, 50 years after the Holocaust, the causes and consequences of genocide still need to be taught.

The USC Shoah Foundation is committed to helping Rwanda expand its efforts to collect and preserve memories of the genocide and develop education initiatives for Rwandan students and teachers. The testimonies of Rwandan genocide survivors it has recorded with Kigali Genocide Memorial and Aegis Trust, along with its Holocaust survivor testimonies, provide powerful evidence of the consequences of intolerance as well as inspiration for Rwanda’s post-genocide society.

With a network of international partners, USC Shoah Foundation’s work both online and on the ground in Rwanda aims to use the voices of survivors to engage all Rwandans in building a peaceful future.