USC Shoah Foundation invites applications from advanced-level PhD candidates for the 2023-2024 USC Shoah Foundation Robert J. Katz Research Fellowship in Antisemitism Studies.

Gerald Szames chokes up easily, especially when talking about his mother. So for years, his daughter has taken it upon herself to tell her father’s story of surviving the Holocaust as a small boy. She speaks to audiences at schools, houses of worship and community centers, often with her father by her side to answer questions. 

As a result of this two-part webinar, educators will deepen their understanding of antisemitism and its impact and consequences; explore the challenges and opportunities to address antisemitism; and critically reflect on the educator's role and responsibility to address antisemitism.

A public lecture by Sheldon Garon (Princeton University, History) (Join us in person for this lecture) Organized by the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture Cosponsored by the USC East Asian Studies Center, the USC Dornsife Center for Advance Genocide Research, and the USC Center for International Studies 

A partnership including USC Shoah Foundation next week holds its first professional development webinar to train teachers to recognize and respond to antisemitism with their students. The Recognizing and Responding to Antisemitism in Schools webinar series, which begins Monday at 1pm PST, is aimed at schoolteachers, principals and superintendents who can earn credits for taking each of six modules.

A public lecture by Carli Snyder (PhD candidate in History, City University of New York Graduate Center) 2022-2023 USC Shoah Foundation Robert J. Katz Research Fellow in Genocide Studies (Join us in person for this lecture or attend virtually on Zoom) Organized by the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research and the USC Shoah Foundation

A public lecture by Clara Dijkstra (PhD candidate in History, University of Cambridge, Christ’s College) 2023-2024 USC Shoah Foundation Robert J. Katz Research Fellow in Genocide Studies (Join us in person for this lecture or attend virtually on Zoom)

Ambassador Stephen J. Rapp will discuss ongoing global efforts in national courts as well as before the International Criminal Court for prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide being perpetrated in Ukraine and their impact.

A group of Bioethics and the Holocaust Fellows recently gathered at USC Shoah Foundation headquarters in Los Angeles to develop content for new curriculums that will feature Visual History Archive testimony from survivors of Nazi medical experiments. The Holocaust marked a profound and sadistic deviation from traditional notions of medical ethics, with medical and scientific communities in the Third Reich actively participating in the labeling, persecution and eventual mass murder of millions deemed “unfit.”

In this clip from his 2022 testimony, Gerald Szames recalls his personal encounter with antisemitism from a fellow college student. Recorded in the Ceci Chan and Lila Sorkin Memory Studio at the USC Shoah Foundation Institute's global headquarters on the USC campus in Los Angeles, California.

Equipped with blankets and snacks and dressed in pajamas, 24 young women of USC’s Gamma Phi Beta settled into the living room of their sorority house last fall to watch a video of Edith Eger telling her story of survival and resilience during the Holocaust. Edith’s story struck a chord with many sisters, as she recounted how her friendships with other women saved her life in Auschwitz. In the discussion that followed, the women focused on themes of sisterhood, solidarity and cooperation.

USC Shoah Foundation partner and celebrated author, performer and concert pianist Mona Golabek this week brings her virtual, theatrical performance based on The Children of Willesden Lane book to 50,000 students and educators in Texas. Premiering as part of Texas Holocaust Remembrance Week, the Willesden READS performance promises to be the largest Holocaust education event ever to be held in the state. The virtual program and accompanying live events this week in Texas was made possible with the generous support of the Morton H. Meyerson Family Foundation.

USC Shoah Foundation mourns the December 7, 2022 passing of Tom Tugend, a Berlin-born veteran of three wars and an award-winning journalist who fled the Nazi regime just months ahead of the outbreak of World War II. He was 97. 

A powerful testament to the courage of the Righteous Among the Nations who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Moving archival testimony - provided by the USC Shoah Foundation and March of the Living - focuses on four Polish rescuers whose stories have been shared with March of the Living students. Director & Producer: Naomi Wise Executive Producer: Dr. David Machlis Special Thanks: Elkie Rosen Foundation

Martin Greenfield, born in 1928 in what was then Czechoslovakia, was the only member of his immediate family to survive Auschwitz. He immigrated to the U.S. at age 19 and eventually made his name as a Master Tailor, making suits for six US presidents. As a new immigrant, he worked on the suit of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. In this clip, Greenfield recalls seeing Eisenhower when he was liberated at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in April 1945.   

A public lecture by Vaclav Masek (PhD student in Sociology, University of Southern California) 2022 Beth and Arthur Lev Student Research Fellow (Join us in person for this lecture or attend virtually on Zoom) Organized by the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research

January 27 is designated by the United Nations General Assembly as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Tied to the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the day commemorates the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and seeks to promote Holocaust education throughout the world.

USC Shoah Foundation today unveils a Dimensions in Testimony (DiT) interview with internationally celebrated author and concert pianist Mona Golabek. Published on the Institute’s award-winning IWitness page in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, this is the inaugural DiT interactive experience to feature a second-generation (or ‘2G”) descendent of a Holocaust survivor.

A public lecture by Ryan Cheuk Him Sun (PhD candidate in History, University of British Columbia, Canada) 2022-2023 Breslauer, Rutman, and Anderson Research Fellow (Join us in person for this lecture or attend virtually on Zoom) Organized by the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research  

A public lecture by Vaclav Masek (PhD student in Sociology, University of Southern California) 2022 Beth and Arthur Lev Student Research Fellow (Join us in person for this lecture or attend virtually on Zoom) Organized by the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research

A public lecture by Ryan Cheuk Him Sun (PhD candidate in History, University of British Columbia, Canada) 2022-2023 Breslauer, Rutman, and Anderson Research Fellow (Join us in person for this lecture or attend virtually on Zoom) Organized by the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research

Suzette Sheft first recognized the importance of recording family history when it was already too late. As a young child, the New York City student had regularly listened to her father’s stories, but when he died of pancreatic cancer when she was just 13, she realized she was unable to remember many of them. “When he was alive, he would tell me stories about his life while tucking me in each night, but in the months following his death, I found myself forgetting many of his recollections,” Suzette said.