"I hope the Jewish diaspora realizes," says [USC Shoah Foundation executive director Dr. Robert] Williams, "that there are allies at this moment and there is always an opportunity to turn the tide."
Steven Spielberg was at USC to honor Holocaust survivors.
The Oscar-winning director spoke at an event where he was recognized for his work with the USC Shoah Foundation, an organization he founded in 1994 to record and preserve interviews with survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust.
As virulent antisemitism roils the nation’s college campuses in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, USC is making a rare gesture to recognize the crippling effect of anti-Jewish hatred on society and the human spirit.
Leading the USC Shoah Foundation Board delegation to Israel were the organization's executive director Dr. Robert J. Williams, a Holocaust historian, and board chairman Joel Citron.
Thirty years after sweeping the Oscars, Steven Spielberg, Liam Neeson, Martin Scorsese and others reveal the untold story behind one of the most revered films of all time, including George Lucas' secret behind-the-scenes role, how Mel Gibson was put forward to play Schindler and more.
Rockets at dawn, gunfire outside, hours of anxiety: a survivor of the October 7 attack shared his account of the day Gaza militants stormed his southern Israeli community, speaking into a video camera.
Voci, ricordi, racconti degli scampati al sanguinoso pogrom del 7 ottobre scorso in Israele: storie di fughe e nascondigli, di lutti e angoscia raccolte in un grande archivio audiovisivo. (Voices, memories, stories of the survivors of the bloody pogrom of last October 7 in Israel: stories of escapes and hiding places, of mourning and anguish collected in a large audiovisual archive.)
His comments come as the organization continues its initiative to collect testimonies from survivors of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and Holocaust survivors and witnesses.
Spielberg said the initiative is “an effort that will ensure that the voices of survivors will act as a powerful tool to counter the dangerous rise of antisemitism and hate.”
Israelis tell the USC Shoah Foundation -- best known for documenting the Holocaust -- about what they saw when Hamas attacked on October 7. CNN's Nick Watt reports.
Teams working for the foundation, which has accumulated more than 56,000 video testimonies of survivors of genocide, crimes against humanity and related persecution around the world, have already recorded the first testimonies in Israel.
Top Hollywood creatives, comedians, industry experts and leadership from the Jewish community gathered in Los Angeles … for Variety’s inaugural Antisemitism and Hollywood Summit.
Dr. Robert J. Williams joins the FOX 11 News Special Report to discuss a rise in anti-Semitic attacks.
For interviews with the others featured in the film, Edwards utilized the USC Shoah Foundation, which has collected and archived interviews with more than 55,000 testimonies now arrived at the University of Southern California.
The five-year $470,000 grant will support research that documents the Yiddish language as it was spoken by survivors who were interviewed for the Visual History Archive of the USC Shoah Foundation, an organization that was founded by film director Steven Spielberg in 1994.
Along with Holocaust education, it can help people “understand the persistent threat of genocide around the world,” says Paul Glassman, director of scholarly and cultural resources at Yeshiva University.
The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the UMN School of Music had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Badema Pitic in March for a talk titled “Remembering Through Music: The Srebrenica Genocide in Bosnian izvorna Songs.” I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Pitic about her research on music, transitional justice, and reconciliation in post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Grandchildren of Holocaust survivors continue to share their families’ stories.