USC Shoah Foundation and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum launched Auschwitz: The Past is Present, a global communications and education program that supported the official observance of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on Jan. 27, 2015.

As part of Auschwitz: The Past is Present, USC Shoah Foundation partnered with Discovery Education and the World Jewish Congress to develop four days of programming that ran from January 24-27, 2015, in concert with official activities commemorating the anniversary.

With Discovery Education, USC Shoah Foundation provided a unique professional development opportunity for 25 educators from around the world who support grades 5-12. They participated in a four-day workshop that began in Warsaw at the Museum of the History of the Polish Jews and concluded with the official ceremonies at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

The workshop deepened teachers’ understanding of the history and continued importance of preserving the historic German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, as well as the testimonies from the Visual History Archive of those who survived the atrocities that occurred there during World War II.

Another major component of the education initiative of Auschwitz: The Past is Present was the launch of four new activities on the Institute’s free IWitness online educational platform that provides access to more than 1,300 testimonies from survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides. The activities were designed to teach students about the past and encourage them to reflect on how their actions can help make the world a better place.

USC Shoah Foundation and Discovery Education also hosted an interactive virtual experience for middle- and high-school students worldwide to provide a deeper understanding of the Holocaust on May 13, 2015. Thousands of students and teachers from North American classrooms tuned to hear panelists including Holocaust survivor Paula Lebovics; UC Shoah Foundation Junior Interns Gabe Hackel, Anna Hackel and Lucia Wiedeman; Arkansas teacher Karen Wells and Director of Education Kori Street. All participated in the Auschwitz: The Past is Present professional development program in Poland in January 2015.

Also part of Auschwitz: The Past is Present, USC Shoah Foundation and World Jewish Congress traveled 100 survivors of Auschwitz to Poland to attend and participate in the official observance of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on Jan. 27, 2015.