Lukas Binder’s civilian service commitment to his native Austria brought him to the United States—and to USC Shoah Foundation. Originally from Mödling in Lower Austria, Binder now resides in Los Angeles while he fulfills his nine-month period of duty. “I help out wherever there is a need,” he says of tasks that include creating and editing videos, as well as helping assemble the book commemorating the founding of USC Shoah Foundation 20 years ago.

Back home, Binder studies international business consulting at the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt. But he only had a chance to complete one semester before national duty called upon his developing skills. While searching for a place to serve his commitment, he was steered toward the USC Shoah Foundation by acquaintances Daniel Kelemen and Marc Bertel. “Both of them have been my mentors and worked here,” says Binder.

Binder’s work at USC Shoah Foundation demands ingenuity and great attention to detail, as when he assembled a spreadsheet of every testimony going into the anniversary book, including interview details, photo identification, and clip timestamps. He translated and transcribed two German testimonies, and extracted high-resolution stills from the video of every account the book will feature. And he also was tasked with finding the best subtitling program for Chinese testimonies.

Although he misses his family and friends, Binder has become close to his colleagues at the Institute. When he returns to Austria to continue his studies and build his career, he says he will take with him the memories of both their personal kindness and professional commitment to promoting Holocaust education. “I’ve already met so many great people here,” he says. “I hope we stay in touch!”

But his most vivid memories have come from meeting survivors and hearing their stories in person. “The most emotional one was probably when Dario Gabbai—a survivor of the Sonderkommando—was here,” Binder recalls of the man who, after losing almost his whole family at Auschwitz, was then forced to work on the crew that moved corpses from the gas chambers to the crematoria.

That is just one example of the history Binder is proud to help keep alive during his internship at USC Shoah Foundation.