The Following Op-Ed was published in U.S. News by the USC Shoah Foundation's Finci-Viterbi Executive Director, Robert J. Williams, Ph.D.
January 27, 2025
As we commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day today and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, we find ourselves at a critical juncture in history.
Robert J. Williams, the Finci-Viterbi executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation, tells Axios that the commemoration provides a venue for survivors to share their voices and "really tell us the world that they want to create before the last of them leave us."
On January 27, 1945, Allied Forces liberated the camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Each year on this anniversary, the world observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a solemn occasion for us all to affirm our commitment to Holocaust remembrance and education and to a world that respects and knows the histories of the victims and survivors of this terrible crime.
Dr. Robert Williams, executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation, described the event as more than a traditional memorial. "Unlike reading a book or watching a movie, music has a way to evoke a different set of emotions when you are dealing with complicated subjects," he said.