Liesl Loeb describes how her home was attacked during Kristallnacht. Her family's non-Jewish tenant hid the family upstairs and they listened as vandals destroyed the entire first floor of their house. This clip is part of the new IWitness activity Information Quest: Kristallnacht.

IWitness has published a new activity about Kristallnacht just in time for its 77th anniversary this November.

«Якщо у вас є цікава історія про шкільну дружбу, яка відбувалася у 1932-1933 роках, попрацюйте з нею. Діти точно її запам’ятають, а разом з нею і особливості періоду Голодомору стануть більш релевантними, діти намагатимуться зрозуміти, що відбувалося в ті часи.»- Олександр Войтенко, автор навчально-методичного семінару «Голодомор 1932-1933: людський вимір трагедії»

USC Professor of History Wolf Gruner directs USC Dornsife Center for Advance Genocide Research and sets its research agenda. Gruner also holds the Shapell- Guerin Chair in Jewish Studies at the university. An internationally recognized expert on genocide, Gruner has published 10 books and numerous articles on the Holocaust in Europe as well as on mass violence against indigenous people in Latin America.        

Polish Jewish survivor Martin Becker speaks about meeting the nephew of the great mufti al-Husseini while he studied in Egypt before World War II.Becker's testimony was recorded in 1993 by Jewish Family and Children’s Services’ (JFCS) Holocaust Center in San Francisco.

There is a current controversy about the allegation that the great mufti of Jerusalem instigated the final solution of the Nazis. While there is no doubt that Haj Amin al-Husseini, was a virulent anti-Semite, history shows that the Final Solution was conceived and implemented by Nazis and nobody else.

Families exploring USC at Trojan Family Weekend are invited to visit the USC Shoah Foundation exhibit to learn more about the Visual History Archive.

Marika Abrams talks about her experiences speaking to students about the Holocaust.

Sonya Perl discusses the Great Famine of Ukraine in 1932-1933. She says that in the years leading up to the famine, people were so hungry that they would sometimes resort to cannibalism.

Edith talks about what she has learned about her life because of the Holocaust and how it has impacted her relationship with her children. She talks about trying to open communication with future generations and serving as a role model.

During one of the most joyous times in her life, 13-year-old Mia Michaels decided to honor the survivors and victims of one of the darkest periods in history. Mia’s parents, Larry Michaels and Tamar Elkeles, have been USC Shoah Foundation donors for over 10 years, and her grandfather Gidon Elkeles fled Nazi Germany at age three while many other relatives were killed in the Holocaust. When it came time for her to decide on a project for her bat mitzvah, she wanted to connect to her family history and learn about how her past is part of her future, Tamar said.

USC Shoah Foundation regional consultant Anna Lenchovska and education expert Oleksandr Voitenko introduced the participants to the multimedia teacher’s guide "Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933: The Human Dimension of the Tragedy."

A lecture by Maximilian Strnad (University of Munich)Doheny Memorial Library, Room 240

Ever wonder what date USC Shoah Foundation held its first teacher-training workshop, or who was the first recipient of the Ambassadors for Humanity award? Have you ever wanted to know all of the Institute’s major accomplishments in a given year since its founding in 1994?

Cornelia Aaron Swaab says she wanted to give her testimony to USC Shoah Foundation in the hope that by sharing her own experiences with the world, she can do her part to prevent future genocides.

After spending three years studying and working in Armenia, Manuk Avedikyan is applying his passion for Armenian culture and history to USC Shoah Foundation’s new Armenian Genocide collection.Avedikyan is currently working with program administrator Hrag Yedalian on indexing the collection, which launched in the Visual History Archive on April 24, 2015, the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Ninety testimonies are already indexed and viewable in the archive; Avedikyan expects to finish indexing the remaining 300 by this spring.

Cila talks about how incredibly generous her mother was to many people, and how she used to send various gifts to poor families to help them celebrate Shabbat.

Jerome Nemer Lecture & Film Documentary Flyer.pdf

Haroutune Ayvazian remembers an act from a Turkish man helped saved him and his family.  

Chava Ben-Amos talks about the education she received in Auschwitz thanks to Fredy Hirsch, an advocate for children in the camps. She remembers various teachers who taught the children poetry, music, movie-making and many other subjects that impacted her life.

Educators looking for strategies and best practices for teaching using testimonies from the Visual History Archive can refer to a new guide published on the IWitness website.

The USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research invites applications from senior scholars for its 2016-2017 Center Research Fellowship. The fellowship provides $30,000 support and will be awarded to an outstanding senior scholar from any discipline who will advance genocide research through the use of the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive and other USC resources.

Tana Basa talks about her pride in her Jewish identity, and how she believes her children are lucky to grow up Jewish and Catholic.

Before taking his students on a tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, high school history teacher Ferenc Sós turned to IWitness.Sós is a graduate of USC Shoah Foundation’s Teaching with Testimony in the 21st Century program in Budapest, which introduces teachers to the methodologies of using testimony from the Visual History Archive in their lessons. He was a member of the 2013 cohort.

USC Shoah Foundation executive staff, supporters and partners met in China this week for the 2015 USC Global Conference, where they shared the Institute’s mission and newest projects with an international audience.

During the weekend of October 10-11, the University of Southern California gathered international academics, musicians and members of the Los Angeles community for a symposium and series of events, collectively called Singing in the Lion’s Mouth: Music as Resistance to Genocide. Hosted by Professor Wolf Gruner of the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research, and Professor Nick Strimple of the USC Thornton School of Music, the symposium, film screening and concert were also sponsored by USC’s Vision and Voices arts and humanities initiative. The following paragraphs are a reflection on the individual events that made up the weekend, and an exploration into the larger ideas raised in discussions over the course of the weekend.

USC Shoah Foundation is saddened to learn of the passing of Johnny Strange, a record-holding adventurer and supporter of USC Shoah Foundation.