After several postponements due to the political turmoil in their country, the 2012 Teaching with Testimony in the 21st Century Ukrainian cohort finally came together this month for a follow-up session about the lessons they created over the last two years.

Joseph Steiner remembers when Nazi Germany invaded his home country, Hungary. He speaks on the anti-Semitism he experienced from neighbors, which he said was influenced by Nazi propaganda and hatred.

After a successful test run, the educational website IWitness is coming out of beta with new functionality, additional languages, as well as a faster and easier way for educators to create accounts so they can begin using IWitness in their classrooms without delay.

Noémi Ban remembers the very first time she saw members of the SS, right before she and her family were deported to Auschwitz. She recalls the terrifying journey in the cattle cars from Hungary to Poland and also her first impressions of the concentration camp. This clip reel of Noémi’s testimony is featured in the IWitness activity My Story Matters.

The testimonies of Holocaust survivors were recorded for the Visual History Archive 50 years after the Holocaust took place, but testimonies of more recent genocides are increasingly being collected. The Dynamics of Oral History of War and Genocide panel will examine the challenges, implications and responsibilities that modern testimony collections have for communities that have experienced war and genocide.

From the spring 2014 issue of PastForward: French film director and documentarian Claude Lanzmann visited USC Shoah Foundation for the first time this December, bringing with him his latest film and a simple request for the future.

Nicholas Frank speaks about Benjamin Murmelstein, the controversial chief Judenaeltester (Elder of the Jews) at Theresienstadt. 

The fast pace of globalization with all of its benefits is also accelerating the viral spread of hatred. Where once regional enmities brewed for centuries with sporadic outbursts of warfare and imperial powers that waxed and waned, the truly global speed and scale of ideological hatred and international conflict was not possible until recently for many practical reasons.

Educators can now access three of USC Shoah Foundation’s Ukrainian-language lesson guides and modules for free on the USC Shoah Foundation website. Each lesson includes everything teachers need including testimony and film clips.

Arsene Nsabimana encourages people around the world to stop fighting with one another and be respectful of each other’s differences. Arsene also speaks on his decision to forgive his perpetrators and how forgiveness became a coping mechanism.

Anna Lenchovska, M.D. in Psychology, is the international consultant in Ukraine for USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education. For nearly 10 years she has helped develop educational resources on how to use video testimonies in Ukraine classrooms.  Lenchovska also serves as executive director of the Congress of National Minorities of Ukraine. Prior to this she worked in the Ukrainian NGO “Institute of Jewish Studies” and a clinic for child psychiatry and psychotherapy.

This September a new school year will begin in Ukraine and the first lesson students be taught is “Ukraine is united" and the lesson will be devoted to state integrity of Ukraine. A tough issue for the country engrossed into an ongoing military conflict and terrorist attacks.

For the third consecutive year, a new group of teachers gathered in Hungary for the Teaching with Testimony in the 21st Century professional development program to learn how to create their own testimony-based lessons and classroom activities.

Steven Frank remembers witnessing the spread of anti-Semitic propaganda throughout Budapest. He also speaks on the rise of anti-Jewish and anti-Roma sentiments in local schools.

Teachers throughout the San Diego Unified School District had the opportunity to attend an IWitness training led by USC Shoah Foundation staff on Monday.

Philip Drell, a photographer with the U.S. Army Signal Corps, served with the Special Motion Picture Coverage Unit headed by film director George Stevens. In his testimony, Philip describes what he witnessed when his unit arrived at Dachau. His testimony is featured in Testimony –The Legacy of Schindler’s List and the USC Shoah Foundation.  

The Social Engagements with Holocaust Remembrance in New Media panel will illustrate just three of the many fascinating ways scholars are looking at testimony in its various forms in order to study the mediation of Holocaust remembrance.

David Bayer remembers when Nazi Germany invaded his home country, Poland on September 1, 1939. David and his family hid in the woods during the invasion and returned to town a few days later to find German soldiers in their home.

Trudy Coppel describes how Jews were forced to wear the Yellow Star on their clothing in Nazi Germany. Trudy’s was considered Aryan, however her father was born Jewish and according to Nazi laws, Trudy and her brothers were Jewish and were forced to wear the Yellow Star beginning in September 1941.

Developed by USC Shoah Foundation, IWitness has been shown to improve critical-thinking skills, while also increasing students’ ability to engage the world with heightened sense of responsibility, empathy and tolerance.