Edgar Wildfeuer of Argentina speaks of his forced labor assignment in carpentry for the Deutsche Ausrüstungswerke (DAW) Corporation in Auschwitz.

Shaul Hazan, who worked as a Sonderkommando at Auschwitz, describes what he witnessed at the crematoriums. He details not only the gruesome cleanup, but also the process the Nazis used to administer the gas.

Shortly after the Germans fled Auschwitz, well-meaning Russian liberators provided food to children. Tragically, some would die from eating too quickly. Yehudit Sadeh was suffering from dysentery, which proved fortuitous because it prevented her from eating. She describes how a doctor took pains to nurse her back to health until she could walk again and catch a transport back to Czechoslovakia. 

Jewish survivor Ina Rabner of Brazil remembers the selection process she and the other women prisoners underwent upon their arrival to Auschwitz. She also recalls how, amidst the terrifying process, she saved her sister from execution, hiding her sibling’s graying hair from Mengele.

Jewish survivor Nissin Soriano of Argentina recalls the intake procedures he experienced in Auschwitz. He describes the shaving, numbering, and disinfecting processes.

USC Shoah Foundation spent seven months researching the identities of every child in the liberation photo of the children behind the barbed wire, and reunited four of them yesterday in Krakow.

The Kizito Kalima Information Quest in IWitness introduces students to the Rwandan Tutsi Genocide and the story of Kizito Kalima, one of its survivors.

Auschwitz survivor Zuzana Weiszova describes how the fatigued Russian liberators entered the death camp and, after deciphering the Germans were gone, asked survivors if they had any vodka. The Russians cooked a modest feast and shared it with all.

 In commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of AuschwitzJoin us for the US film premiere of "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey" Museum of Tolerance9786 W. Pico Blvd., Los AngelesTuesday, January 27 at 7 p.m. Presented by Museum of Tolerance, USC Shoah Foundation with the support of the British Council

Auschwitz was one of five death camps established by the Nazis in Poland where Jews were taken to be murdered during the so-called “Final Solution,” a euphemism for the their genocide. We know it through the horrific photos of trains filled with Jews, of men being split from women, parents from children, of the uniformed Nazi wagging his finger, and of the brick chimneys billowing smoke. But there is a much more intimate story still to be heard.

Doheny Memorial Library Room 240

The sense of history in the making was palpable Monday in Krakow, Poland, where more than 20 staff members of USC Shoah Foundation — The Institute for Visual History and Education attended a reception to honor more than 100 Auschwitz survivors on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the death camp.

As the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles, it falls to future generations to ensure their stories remain vibrant and strong.

Seventy years after the camp was liberated, institute helps bring survivors, teachers and others to milestone event. The Auschwitz camp is seen at the end of the tracks.

Roman Kent, Auschwitz survivor, speaking at the commemorationIt took months of preparation. But there is little one can do to prepare for a visit to Auschwitz.

Dr. Jared McBride, 2014-2015 recipient of the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research's Douglas and Margee Greenberg Research Fellowship discusses how oral history and testimony can be integrated with existing archival documents to recreate a micro-level history of the Holocaust in western Ukraine.

Marissa Roy says she didn’t quite know what to expect when she went to Rwanda on the 2013 Problems Without Passports trip – and she wants this year’s class to have the same experience.

Bobbie Downs saw firsthand how genocide affects people when she taught Sudanese refugees in Cairo, and she will expand on this knowledge when she joins survivors, educators, students and thousands of others to attend the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27.

As School Library Media Specialist at Clark Mills Elementary School in Manalapan, New Jersey, Gail Murray introduces not just one class each year but many to USC Shoah Foundation testimony in order to supplement their learning about the Holocaust.Murray wanted to complement the fourth- and fifth grade units on the Holocaust with age-appropriate content in the library, so she researched possible websites, literature and videos that would enhance what they are learning in their classrooms. She said she felt that she “hit gold” when she found USC Shoah Foundation and IWitness.

Lyndsay Fleming teaches sixth grade social studies at East Cobb Middle School in Marietta, Georgia.I first learned about IWitness from Jane Moore during a professional learning day. I was interested in using the website in my classroom because of the primary and secondary sources and interviews of Holocaust survivors. One of the major benefits of the website is the premade lesson and activities as well as being able to create your own. 

On her first-ever trip outside North America, Barbara Fowler will join 24 other teachers from around the world to help commemorate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in Poland by learning new methods for teaching the Holocaust.

Steven Howell realized how important it is to teach the Holocaust when he encountered anti-Semitism in his own classroom.He had just begun teaching at James A. Garfield High School, a small rural school in Garettsville, Ohio, when he found that the students had not read The Diary of Anne Frank. He taught them the historical context of the book, which they knew little about, but after two weeks he walked into his classroom to find a cross with two swastikas, on which was printed “Back off.”

The students in Lynne Ravas’ eighth grade English class at Lower Dauphin Middle School in Hummelstown, Penn., explore topics relating to the Holocaust not through research papers, but with videos in IWitness.

Traveling to Poland for Auschwitz: The Past is Present will be a homecoming of sorts for Sabina Kobinski, who will return to her family’s homeland and the place where her own uncle was imprisoned during the Holocaust.

Former Auschwitz: The Past is Present teacher Miljenko Hajdarovic announced that he has been chosen to join 300 other educators to completely reform the Croatian national curriculum.