The Center is now in possession of over 40 boxes of documents from the historic Martin Marootian et al. v. New York Life Insurance Company class action lawsuit.

It’s easy to see why Vartkes Yeghiayan thinks of Martin Marootian et al. v. New York Life Insurance Company as “his baby.”

Albrecht Becker describes how in the immediate aftermath of liberation Germans, including German Jews, were silent about Nazi atrocities in an attempt to return to a normal as soon as possible.

A Lecture with Dr. Wendy Lower, Claremont McKenna College, USC Shoah Foundation 2015 Yom Hashoah Scholar in Residence

Henry Morgenthau III talks about his grandfather who was the Ambassador to Turkey during World War I.

Nium Sukkar, an Arab eye witness from Deir Zor who describes seeing Armenians being deported to desert.

Raphael Zimetbaum speaks of his gratitude toward the Armenian people in Marseille, France. Along with his parents, he fled from Antwerp, Belgium, to Marseille, France, following the German invasion of Belgium in 1940. In Marseille, his family found housing within the Armenian community neighborhood, where they felt so welcome and were received with great affection. He states that he thinks that the sensitivity extended to his family may have been in part due to the history of the Armenian Genocide and the suffering the Armenian people endured at the time. 

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and the first integration of Armenian Genocide testimonies into the Visual History Archive, USC Shoah Foundation will release one clip from the Armenian Genocide collection on the Institute’s website each day for the next 30 days.

Out of all the Armenian families in the small California town where Richard Hovannisian grew up, Hovannisian grew up in an English-speaking household and didn’t know much about his heritage or Armenian history. Today, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Hovannisian is one of the leading experts on the Armenian Genocide who founded the Armenian Studies program at UCLA and is an adjunct professor at USC, where, for several years, he has advised USC Shoah Foundation on its Armenian Genocide testimony collection.

Haigas Bonapart describes how his two sitster took their own lives rather than be forced to marry Turks.

Main Line Reform Temple 410 Montgomery Ave, Wynnewood, PA

University of Pennsylvania Lubavitch House4032 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA

Har Zion Temple1500 Hagys Ford Road, Penn Valley, PAThis year’s program will include a survivor candle lighting, memorial service and special screening of the film Auschwitz. This definitive new short film, produced by Steven Spielberg, directed by James Moll and narrated by Meryl Streep, was created for the official commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The honored guest is Auschwitz survivor Israel Arbeiter, who will share his life experiences including his recent trip back to Poland.

Professor Richard Hovannisian explains the emotion expressed in the eyewitness testimonies to the Armenian Genocide is what sets the Armenian Genocide Testimony Collection at USC Shoah Foundation apart from other written and audio testimony collections.

Due to the ongoing political and military conflicts in their country, many students in Ukraine have something in common with Holocaust survivors: They have all experienced the fear and uncertainty of war.

Professor Richard Hovannisian provides commentary for the testimony clip of Jirair Suchiasian.

Marina Kay is a senior International Relations major with an emphasis on the Middle East at USC. Marina interns with the  communications department and is a member of the USC Shoah Foundation Student Association, DEFY. She is also currently a research assistant to the Director of the School of International Relations. 

In commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Centennial, the USC Shoah Foundation will be co-sponsoring "Sharing Our Stories: Voices of Survivors." The event will bring together a panel of speakers representing the Holocaust and the Armenian, Bosnian, Cambodian, and Rwandan genocides. The speakers will share their personal experiences, and their paths toward healing, forgiveness, and re-establishing livelihoods in Los Angeles.

Scott Spencer was flying from Philadelphia to Los Angeles last May to meet up with his wife, who had just gotten a new job as the cantor of University Synagogue in Brentwood, when he struck up a conversation with the young girl sitting next to him.He asked her why she was traveling to Los Angeles. To his surprise, she said she was going to meet President Obama and present a documentary she had made for school.

USC Shoah Foundation recently hosted a group of staff from Aegis Trust in Kigali, Rwanda, who came to participate in an onsite training on various aspects of archiving audiovisual testimonies.

Prof. Richard Hovannisian on the life and testimony of Alice Muggerditchian Shipley. This is the third testimony in the Armenian Genocide Testimony series.

You never know what you are going to discover in the Visual History Archive. Each one of the 53,000 testimonies in the Archive tells a different story of life before, during and after the individual’s experience with genocide.

Los Angeles, April 1, 2015 – To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in April, USC Shoah Foundation — The Institute for Visual History and Education will debut a month-long series of testimony clips from survivors and witnesses of the 20th century’s first genocide.One clip a day are being released on the Institute’s website at sfi.usc.edu through the last day of April, which is Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month. Included on the month-long timeline will be the April 24 anniversary of the Armenian Genocide’s onset.

Los Angeles, March 26, 2015 –  Echoes and Reflections, a comprehensive Holocaust education program that provides professional development and an array of resources for middle and high school teachers, is marking its 10th anniversary in 2015 with a strong trail of success behind it and ambitious goals for the future.

Los Angeles, Feb. 17, 2015 – USC Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and Education is pleased to announce Stephen A. Cozen as chairman of its Board of Councilors. Cozen, founder and chairman of the law firm Cozen O'Connor, will provide leadership to the board, which guides strategic direction and policy on the dissemination, scholarship, and educational use of the 53,000 testimonies in the Institute’s Visual History Archive. Cozen succeeds Robert Katz, who has served as board chair since May 2010.

Educators in Hungary were busy last weekend. USC Shoah Foundation hosted three of its programs for teachers: an ITeach seminar, an IWalk through the Budapest Jewish district, and the first-ever Hungarian IWitness Educator workshop.

Prof. Richard Hovannisian describes the life of Armenian Genocide survivor Ashrag Dickranian. This is the fourth testimony in the Armenian Genocide Testimony clip series.

After a career spent producing live events for television, working on Auschwitz: The Past is Present allowed Leslie Wilson to return to her early passion for history in what she calls a life-changing experience.

Prof. Richard Hovannisian describes the life of Armenian Genocide survivor Elsie Hagopian Taft. This is the fifth testimony in the Armenian Genocide Testimony clip series.