Holocaust survivor Gloria Lachman remembers Nazi soldiers appearing at her house and physically forcing her grandmother to vote for Hitler, an experience that caused her to deeply value the right to vote.

On last year’s Giving Tuesday, the USC Shoah Foundation community raised $7,000 to support programs and initiatives to help the Institute change the world through testimony. This November 29, USC Shoah Foundation is counting on you to help reach its goal of $10,000.

Helmut discusses how grateful he is for his life in America, particularly because of his ability to obtain food. He also notes his amazement at how people from different economic classes interact towards one another with respect. 

Andrew expresses his gratitude to the interviewers and the importance of living in the present while acknowledging the tragedies of the past. 

Robert describes his gratitude for America. He focuses on the meaning of freedom and opportunity as well as what citizenship means to him. 

English translation: “First, I would like to thank Mr. Steven Spielberg for the brilliant idea he had to create the Shoah Foundation so that all the cruelty committed by the Nazis is never forgotten. I hope that all that we spoke about here, and all that is told about the Shoah, be just a small grain of sand in the vast mountain that should be created (formed) for the much-desired  peace in the world. And all that took place in Germany and in Europe should never happen again. I would also like to say that the world should prevent Nazi cruelty from returning with all its might.

English translation: “As steel is forged by punches so is our personality. Punches harden and teach us to fight, to continue to fight, to meet challenges, to find new ones and overcome them.  I think that my message in this interview is that such is life. It means to overcome and to forge ahead. Punches can come from where we least expect and we must not fall down—if we do, we must get up. Not all people are bad. The Polish people were not all Antisemitic. Many were good people. And what I have to say to people is to be aware and to use reason.

English Translation: “Always remember what happened. Don't ever forget it, even if it starts becoming just part of history. Don't ever forget and, hopefully, that it will never happen again. Even though the world sees that it is not happening against the Jews, Genocide is still taking place—as in Serbia, in Rwanda. The world does not learn as seen with the recent rebirth of Nazism with the skinheads in Germany. Hopefully, there won't be people denying the Holocaust and people claiming that the existence of gas chambers in Auschwitz- Birkenau was invented by the Jews.

English Translation: “If I made the decision to speak is because I think -- not just for me since it is very difficult [to speak] and I thought about it but not for long-- because I believe that like me, all those who went through the Holocaust should not remain silent. We must speak for the sake of future generations and to prevent this from happening again. And we are not so far from it because, lately, skinheads [Neo-Nazis] are lifting their heads. It is also being said that what we are telling is happening only in the movies, such as in Schindler's List.

English Translation: “The great thing is that all this violence did not take everything away from us because we still have life—a lot of knowledge. At times we learn to survive when surrounded by death. And our greatest contribution is to tell all people, no matter where in the world, that war is no good. In all wars it is always a question of business, of power, of crushing the weaker, the helpless. It is for them that I wish that no family, no people or any other town should consider weapons as the only option. Rather, the option to live is our word, our work.