USC Shoah Foundation’s liaison in Poland, Monika Koszyńska coordinates the Visual History Archive access sites in Poland; represents the Institute at conferences and seminars; organizes the Teaching with Testimony in the 21st Century training program for Polish educators; and coordinates fundraising and other outreach efforts. She is also on the staff of the Museum of the History of the Polish Jews’ education department, a Visual History Archive Access Site.

Poland faces a horrible wave of extremism after the election of a new right-wing government. As an educator and Polish citizen, I am not only scared by this type of radical hatred, but it also reminds me of the past because the same organization that marches on the streets of Polish cities today, organized boycotts of Jewish institutions and forbade Jewish students from studying at Polish universities before WWII.

Leo talks about the beginning of Jewish arrests and deportation in France, along with the rise of various camps in France such as Drancy that many Jewish people were sent to.

USC Shoah Foundation’s French consultant Emmanuel Debono published an article about USC Shoah Foundation and its use of testimony in the French review journal Études arméniennes contemporaines (Contemporary Armenian Studies).

Just a few months after he started working at USC Shoah Foundation, Clarence Leung was on his way to Shanghai for the 2015 USC Global Conference.Leung, who has a background in accounting, joined the staff as a budget analyst in the executive administration department, where he helps track the Institute’s expenses and other financial processes.

With the partnership of Arnold Mittelman, students can now exercise their creativity in a brand new way when learning about the Holocaust in IWitness.Mittelman is a theater producer, director, educator and administrator who has created almost 300 productions of plays, musicals and special events. He helped found and lead not-for-profit theaters including the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami. He is founder, president and producing artistic director of the National Jewish Theater Foundation (NJTF), which celebrates creativity and preserves Jewish culture in the performing arts.

Eva talks about her involvement with the Anne Frank Exhibition, which is about Anne's life and travels all around the world to educate students about the Holocaust through the eyes of a young girl. She assisted in the opening of a new Anne Frank exhibition in Vienna.

Deshou Chen describes how his father was murdered during the Nanjing Massacre, Dec. 13-14, 1937.

USC Shoah Foundation is co-hosting a film screening and Q&A about the new film No Asylum: The Untold Chapter of Anne Frank’s Story at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles on Sunday, Dec. 13 at 4 p.m.

USC Shoah Foundation is honoring the 78th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre today by returning to Nanjing to record 20 new testimonies for its Nanjing Massacre collection.

Through a partnership with the National Jewish Theater Foundation, IWitness has added a brand-new activity that guides secondary students to develop historical narrative monologues using testimonies of Holocaust survivors, witnesses and liberators.

You’re never too old to learn about cultural diversity. I realized this over the weekend, on the eve of Hanukkah. My mom, a fourth grade teacher, told me about an incident she’d just experienced at a local party-supply store. She was shopping for her annual Hanukkah lesson, in which she briefly teaches her students the meaning of the holiday, demonstrates how she lights our family menorah, and leads them in a spirited game of dreidel. Everyone goes home with a little bag of chocolate gelt, a dreidel and maybe a Hanukkah-themed pencil.

Edith talks about the constant fear of being taken hostage and the kind efforts of a family that helped hide her and her brother in a barn. She talks about finally being able to give this family along with the countless other aid givers that helped keep Edith's family alive the proper recognition that they deserve.

Dina Gottliebova-Babbitt remembers painting a mural based on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" on a wall in one of the children's barracks at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, Poland.

Victor Borge was originally born in Copenhagen, but fled to Sweden once Nazis occupied Denmark during World War II. He managed to escape to the United States in 1940 on one of the last neutral ships leaving Europe. While in the U.S, Borge went on to become a famous comedian, conductor, and pianist. In this clip, he is playing a lullaby written by one of his father’s friends.

Shony Braun a violinist, recalls being selected to play music for the SS officers at Dachau. He believes that he would’ve been killed if not for his ability to play music. 

Andrew Merkler speaks about life after the Holocaust and his work as a playwright.

Ruth Westheimer reflects on her studies in the United States after WWII and her long career as “Dr. Ruth.”

Robert Clary reflects on his decision to go back to show business after the Holocaust.

Bulgarian actress, Rebeka Arabova reflects on the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia and discusses how the war and the Holocaust had affected her childhood development, her entire life, and her personality.

Bulgarian actor, Itskhak Fintsi discusses his childhood perceptions of World War II and reflects on the psychological reactions to, and impact of his experience in the Holocaust on his life.

Leon Prochnik and his family fled Nazi occupied Poland and immigrated to New York City. He describes how differently his perception of World War II was for himself as a child than his father, who still had a majority of his family in Poland.

Ruth Posner, a dancer, choreographer and actress describes her training and career around the world after World War II.

After surviving the Holocaust, William Harvey immigrated to New York City and started working at a beauty shop simply because he needed to work. William Harvey continues to describe how his skill flourished and the A-list and celebrity clients who visited the shop.  

Holocaust survivor and rescuer Curt Lowens emotionally reflects on arriving to the United States after World War II. He also describes why he decided to pursue a career in entertainment as an actor.

Sarah Griffitts is a social studies high school teacher at the Calgary Board of Education in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  She received a BA in History at Mount Royal College and an MA in History from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.  Her master’s thesis focused on the establishment of Chelmno and Sobibor through the path of the Einsatzgruppen. 

I found as a teacher that the most challenging task when teaching about the Holocaust and genocide, is how to do it not using material that shocks the students to the point that they do not want to look at the content, study the history or listen to present day issues due to the emotional shut down that can occur.

Last spring, as the world observed its annual commemorations of genocides like the Rwandan Tutsi Genocide and the Holocaust, the staff of The Hollywood Reporter got to talking about how many Holocaust survivors had Hollywood connections, and how many of them were still alive.