Ruth Brand talks about the decision to fast on Yom Kippur—also known as the Day of Atonement—in Auschwitz II-Birkenau as a form of resistance.    

On March 8, 2015 there will be events all over the world celebrating the achievements of women for International Women’s Day. This year’s theme Make it Happen encourages action for advancing women’s rights and also recognizing the incredible and courageous work women do in various industries throughout the world.

Jeannie Woods was the only person from her school in Fort Payne, Al., to travel to Poland for "Auschwitz: The Past is Present," but she made sure she wasn't the only one to experience it.

Charlotte Adelman reflects on the challenge of having to learn French in school after speaking only Yiddish in her home. However, she still remembers and even sings a Yiddish song that she learned as a child.

Gerda Klein reflects on daily life while imprisoned in the Merzdorf concentration camp a subsidiary camp of Gross Rosen. She describes her forced labor making textiles and also working alongside German citizens.

While most scholars listen to testimony for what survivors say about historical events and personal experiences, Isaac Bleaman studies how they say it.

Jack Pressman describes working at the Reichenau facility under false identity.

Sarah Welbel describes liberation from the Gablonz forced labor camp.

In February, I participated in an international conference titled Are we losing memory? Forgotten sites of Nazi forced labor in Central Europe. The event organized by the Terezin Initiative Institute and the North Bohemian Museum in Liberec brought together educators, researchers, archeologists and other experts from the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany to examine the disconnect between history of forced labor and regional history caused by the ethnic cleansing and population transfers after WWII in regions that were part of the German Reich.  

USC Shoah Foundation Executive Director Stephen Smith was invited to speak at the Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM)’s annual conference and the Ararat Home of Los Angeles’s Armenian Genocide Centennial Commemoration.

On Tuesday, March 10, 2015, the USC Center for Advanced Genocide Research hosted a lecture from Dr. Peter Hayes who spoke before a packed room at USC on the complex relationship between anti-Semitism and homophobia exerted in Nazi-occupied territories during World War II. The Theodore Zev Weiss Holocaust Educational Foundation Professor at Northwestern University specializes in 20th-century German History, writing extensively on German industry under the Nazis. Monday's lecture, however, focused on the evolution of his views on a comparison that he was previously reluctant to address.

These resources make it possible for anyone to embark on the IWalks and hear the stories of survivors in the authentic locations where they experienced the Holocaust.

The research of these panelists sheds light on various challenges in mediating oral histories. Is it possible to mediate oral histories in an archive and respect the authenticity and nuance of individual narratives that fall into a larger narrative, for instance in an archive? Questions of translation, distortion, and interview methodology are explored to varying degrees by the work of these presenters. Is it possible to convey specific emotions across cultures, language, and identity?Chair: Karen JungblutPeg LeVine, Ph.D., Ed.D.Mark Zaurov, Ph.D.

Once events are recorded in media it becomes a challenge to control or anticipate how that media will be used. Some voices become dominant while others fade out of memory. How is a contextualized narrative produced or reconciled? How do academics make sense of media that was created with differing methodologies or research practices? The research of this panel focuses on cases that elucidate these challenges. Chair: Geoffrey Robinson, Ph.D.Stef Scagliola, Ph.D.Amy Rothschild, J.D.Viola Lasmana

V platformě IWitness je k dispozici nová aktivita v češtině nazvaná Příjezd do Osvětimi - fotografie a osobní prožitky. V průběhu této aktivity studenti zkoumají historické fotografie coby primární zdroj informací.

As time continues to separate listeners from the recounting of events what is the role of new technology in ensuring the voices of first hand witnesses are heard? The focus of this panel is on how new media technology prompts a rethinking of approaches to remembrance. How can new media re-contextualize or enhance the experience of the listener? What new tools are available to academics? What new or unheard voices will become available?Chair: Johanna Blakley, Ph.D. Rachel Baum, Ph.D. Aya Yadlin-SegalParis Papamichos Chronakis, Ph.D.

Tenth grade world history teacher Joseph Christensen, from Northwest Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas, is an avid user of IWitness after discovering it a year ago.Last year he attended a professional development program about teaching Holocaust in the classroom. One of the presenters showed the IWitness website and database and explained how he used it in his classroom. After searching through the website, Christensen decided to also give it a try.

V pátek 30. ledna proběhlo na Malé Straně páté výroční setkání Centra vizuální historie Malach. Přednášející nejen zhodnotili dosavadní činnost centra, ale představili také aktivity, kterým se centrum bude věnovat v dalších pěti letech.

Specific places in genocide histories occupy different psychological spaces for survivors, witnesses, and visitors. When a place is preserved, or restored for the purpose of memorialization it is inherently transformed. This panel explores various aspects of this transformation: preparation, planning, execution, and consequences. The themes of memory, identity, and narrative are investigated in the creation of exhibitions and museum spaces that are also touristic landmarks.Chair: Marianne Hirsch, Ph.D.Edyta Gawron, Ph.D.András Lénart, Ph.D.

Tento sestřih z filmových vzpomínek pamětníků původně vznikl jako součást programu 5. výroční konference Centra vizuální historie Malach při Univerzitě Karlově v Praze. Úryvky z rozhovorů vybrané Jakubem Mlynářem, koordinátorem CVHM, a sestříhané Martinem Šmokem, konzultantem USC SF, ukazují nejen rozsah a hloubku Archivu vizuální historie, ale jsou také kulturním a emocionálním zážitkem. Zachycují roli, jakou v našich životech a vzpomínkách hrají písně a nápěvy.

Tento sestřih z filmových vzpomínek pamětníků původně vznikl jako součást programu 5. výroční konference Centra vizuální historie Malach při Univerzitě Karlově v Praze. Širšímu publiku představují veselé, odbojné a protinacistické kabaretní písničky z terezínského ghetta a jidiš písně tradičních židů. Sestřih tak zachycuje část mozaiky kultur a identit, o kterou naši společnost připravila genocida osob označených za Židy za druhé světové války.

Students examine Ellis Lewin’s testimony in the Information Quest about his life before, during and after the Holocaust.

Ellis Lewin describes the horrible living conditions including personal property seizure in the Lodz Ghetto. This tesitmony clip is featured in the IWitness activity Information Quest: Ellis Lewin.

Eva Krause reflects on being liberated from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and how the experience strengthened her faith.  

Digital Archives such as the VHA have unbounded teaching potential. The focus of this panel is on how putting such archives to pedagogical use presents unique challenges for instructors, but also innovative opportunities for students to engage with visual testimony. The panelists will explore the themes of creating a dialogue between the student and the testimony through repeated exposure, editing and understanding narratives. Chair: Todd Presner, Ph.D.Christina Isabel BrüningDJ Johnson, M.F.A.Roy Schwartzman, Ph.D.

Stunning works of art, film and writing have once again been given top prizes at Chapman University and The 1939 Society’s 16th Annual Holocaust Art & Writing Contest.

USC Shoah Foundation CTO Sam Gustman is the keynote speaker at Tuesday’s Metadata Madness conference in Los Angeles, which will convene data experts from across the entertainment and technology industries to discuss the latest developments in metadata and distribution.

Eli Benyacar describes life in the Salonika Ghetto in Greece including the cramped apartment shared between multiple families. Eli also recalls how a Greek policeman notified his family that men were being deported to Auschwitz and helped the men in the family escape the deportations. However, the next day Eli and his brother found out that everyone including woman were deported so they returned to be deported with the rest of their family.