In 2018, USC Shoah Foundation launched an Initiative to address requests from survivors who, for complex and often very personal reasons, could not come forward in the 1990s. Since the start of COVID, the foundation has received more than 400 requests from survivors to record their testimonies. We believe there are thousands more who want to tell their stories. 

Kobi is the Program Specialist for Organizational Engagement and Strategic Partnerships - Programs, and assists with all USC Shoah Foundation agreements.  Kobi has engaged in direct services with and for Holocaust survivors for over a decade.  Prior to joining USC Shoah Foundation, she was the Holocaust Survivors Justice Network Administrator at Bet Tzedek Legal Services.  As an adjunct professor at the University of Wyoming, she taught courses on the Holocaust both inside the classroom and through the University’s Summer Semester Abroad in Israel.  Kobi received her MA in Holocaust Studies

The Program Director, Constituent Affairs is responsible for administration of the Executive Office, organization of the USC Shoah Foundation Board of Councilor meetings, including outreach to core constituency groups (internally and externally) and duties akin to those of a chief of staff across all relevant efforts that involve the Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation. This position will be based at the USC Capital Campus in Washington, D.C. and is currently a two-year fixed term, grant-funded position.

The Director of Government Affairs, serving as the lead government relations specialist for the USC Shoah Foundation, will report to and work closely with the Senior Director of Administration to build and maintain relationships with key governmental offices. This position will be based at the USC Capital Campus in Washington, D.C. and is currently a two-year fixed term, grant-funded position.

For six months this spring and summer, I had the pleasure of leading a team of staff and volunteers facilitating the beta run of New Dimensions in Testimony (NDT) from USC Shoah Foundation at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. I watched people of all ages approach the giant monitor displaying an image of Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter, first with trepidation, then curiosity, then, at last, affection. Here are a few things that I learned about technology and humanity from the project.

The couple is particularly excited about the New Dimensions in Testimony project, which allows testimonies to be shared through interactive interviews that facilitate engagement with survivors. “Having seen a demonstration and having learned how new technology enables real-time interaction with a Holocaust survivor is extremely powerful,” says Kathy. “The authenticity of that exchange leaves an indelible impression.”

USC Shoah Foundation is currently fundraising for New Dimensions in Testimony, a new project being developed in concert with USC Institute for Creative Technologies and Conscience Display. The project is to capture three-dimensional interviews with a number of survivors so that in the future people will enable to engage with them conversationally.

May 18, 2016 5 -6:30 p.m. UC Irvine, Merage School Auditorium (SB1, First Floor, Room 1200) Speaker: Stephen Smith, Executive Director, USC Shoah Foundation

USC Shoah Foundation is dedicated to making audio-visual interviews with witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides a compelling voice for education and action. The Institute currently has over 57,466 testimonies recorded in 45 languages in 70 countries that allow us to see the faces and hear the voices of those who witnessed history, allowing them to teach, to memorialize, and to inspire.

New York, NY (October 14, 2024) —Nearly 700 guests convened for an unforgettable evening of celebration and inspiration at the USC Shoah Foundation’s Ambassadors for Humanity Gala. This milestone event marked the Foundation's 30th anniversary, honoring the resilience of Holocaust survivors while emphasizing the critical importance of preserving their testimonies for future generations. 

Cynthia Schirmer currently oversees the finances and business operations of the Institute. She has worked for the Shoah Foundation since March 2016. Prior to that, Cynthia worked as the Shoah Foundation’s Business Officer (while employed at the Dornsife Business Office) from December 2013 thru December 2015. Cynthia has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of La Verne, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in Computer Science from Cal State Fullerton.

Dr. Robert J. Williams is the Finci-Viterbi Executive Director of USC Shoah Foundation. He is UNESCO Chair on Antisemitism and Holocaust Research and the Advisor to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, where he also served for four years as chair of the Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial.

Susan Popler is Director of the Visual History Archive Program where she is driving initiatives to reimagine how audiences access, engage with and learn from testimony with the goal of expanding global reach, increasing interactions and impact. Prior to joining USC, Susan was Executive Director of Production Operations at Time Inc. During her 18 year tenure, she worked with magazines such as Time, Life, People, InStyle, and Fortune.

The November Pogrom, also known as the Kristallnacht Pogrom, was an organized pogrom against Jews in Germany, Austria and parts of former Czechoslovakia (the Sudetenland) that occurred on November 9–10, 1938. Kristallnacht is also known as “Night of Broken Glass,” and “Crystal Night.” Orchestrated by the Nazis, 1,400 synagogues and 7,000 businesses were destroyed, almost 100 Jews were killed, and 30,000 people were arrested and sent to concentration camps. German Jews were subsequently held financially responsible for the destruction wrought upon their property during this pogrom. 

Charlotte Knobloch, born in Munich in 1932, survived the Holocaust disguised as a Christian child on a Bavarian farm. After the war, she reunited with her father and remained in Germany, eventually dedicating her life to combating antisemitism. The XR Experience “Inside Kristallnacht” centers on her story.  In this message to her grandchildren, Dr. Knobloch emphasized the importance of taking pride in one’s Judaism in an era of antisemitism and misinformation.

The USC Shoah Foundation partnered with the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) on the development and launch of Inside Kristallnacht, an innovative mixed-reality experience that presents audiences the events of Kristallnacht through the eyes of Holocaust survivor and activist Dr. Charlotte Knobloch.

The Division of Academic Programs at the USC Shoah Foundation invites applications for its Azrieli Research Fellowship for PhD candidates and early-career scholars during the 2025-2026 academic year.

The Division of Academic Programs at the USC Shoah Foundation invites applications for its Robert J. Katz Research Fellowship in Antisemitism Studies during the 2025-2026 academic year.

The Division of Academic Programs at the USC Shoah Foundation invites applications for its Sandy and Steve Cozen Graduate Top-Off Fellowship for the 2025-2026/ 2026-2027 academic years. One outstanding, advanced-level PhD candidate in any discipline and from any school or department at the University of Southern California will be chosen for this fellowship, which will facilitate completion of their doctoral dissertation. The top-off fellowship will provide $4,000 support per academic year for two consecutive years.

The Division of Academic Programs at the USC Shoah Foundation invites applications for its Azrieli Research Fellowship for Graduate Students during the 2025-2026 academic year. Any person who is pursuing a Master’s degree (M.A., M.Ed., MMSt., MI, or other recognized Master’s-level program) or PhD may apply.