The question “How do you teach this stuff?” is what brought me to USC Shoah Foundation in 2010 to begin my training and work as a Master Teacher. I was beginning to understand that survivor testimony is the formative center of Holocaust education, that once a student begins to see Holocaust education content through the lens of testimony, the education and the student begin to change in ways that are profound.
education, ushmm, iwitness, Holocaust education, GAM, op-eds / Friday, March 25, 2016
The last Holocaust survivor to record an interview for USC Shoah Foundation’s New Dimensions in Testimony program in 2015 was Eva Schloss, survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Anne Frank’s stepsister.
New Dimensions in Testimony, Eva Schloss, Anne Frank / Monday, January 4, 2016
Blog co-authors, Lauren Fenech and Steffanie Grotz both teach 8th grade Advanced English Language Arts at Inverness Middle School in Florida.  
/ Tuesday, January 5, 2016
As educators, when we go into teaching, we go in with what some might call ideological visions: This concept that we can and will make a difference; this idea that the children we teach will take the lessons we’ve taught and use them to become productive people long after they leave the four walls of our classroom. As we sit here now, reflecting on our most recent efforts to teach the Holocaust in a profound manner that gives justice and honor to the victims of this atrocity, we feel fortunate that such ideologies are being lived in our classroom.
iwitness, IWitness in Action, education, beginswithme, discrimination, op-eds / Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Renee describes the active Jewish cultural life that existed in her hometown of Goworowo, Poland, before the German invasion.
clip, poland / Tuesday, January 5, 2016
USC Shoah Foundation’s international consultants in Poland and Czech Republic ended 2015 introducing the work of the Institute to new audiences.
poland, Czech Republic, Monika Koszynska, Martin Smok, teacher training / Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Wednesday, January 27, 201512 - 1:30 p.m. (Lunch served)USC Gould, Musick Law Building, Room 130USC Shoah Foundation will co-sponsor this public lecture with the USC Gould School of Law's International Human Rights Clinic, the International Law and Relations and the International Rfugee Assistance Project.
/ Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Rwandan Tutsi Genocide survivor Francoise Muteteli describes how one woman saved her life during the genocide by helping her hide. This clip is part of the IWitness activity The Bystander Effect.
clip, Rwandan Genocide / Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Students all over the world can now complete an IWitness activity about the dangers of being a bystander that was first piloted in the United States and Rwanda.
Begins With Me, beginswithme, rwanda, IWitness activity / Wednesday, January 6, 2016
The four scholars who two years ago found their research transformed by the Visual History Archive will return to USC Shoah Foundation for a public presentation and a week of conducting new research.
geography, visual history archive / Thursday, January 7, 2016
Walter Gordon describes his and his brother's journey from Lyon, France, to London, England, in 1938, to avoid the impending German invasion. They made their illegal border crossing on foot, in a boat, swimming, hiding in the mountains, and finally on a train to London.
clip / Thursday, January 7, 2016
A lecture by Dan Stone (Royal Holloway, University of London)USC, Herklotz Room, Doheny Memorial Library (Music Library) 
cagr / Thursday, January 7, 2016
Public visits to USC Shoah Foundation give guests a chance to explore the life stories of survivors and witnesses to genocide preserved in the Visual History Archive, and how testimony is used to overcome prejudice, intolerance and hatred.Description:
/ Friday, January 8, 2016
When Maetal Haas-Kogan was just a few months old, her great-grandfather Benjamin Oudkerk gave his testimony to USC Shoah Foundation. Now, she’s a Harvard freshman and spending half of her winter break interning in USC Shoah Foundation’s education department.Haas-Kogan said she grew up hearing stories about her family’s survival of the Holocaust. Her great-grandfather had survived the war mostly hiding in the home of friends who were also part of the resistance underground movement, and adopted her grandfather as a young boy after the war.
/ Friday, January 8, 2016
Benjamin Oudkerk says that he decided to give his testimony so that his grandchildren could hear his story, and also to share how the kindness of one family saved his life.
clip / Friday, January 8, 2016
The first IWitness Twitter chat for educators of 2016 will be hosted by Facing History and Ourselves, on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 4 p.m. PST/7 p.m. EST.
iwitness, Twitter Chat, facing history / Friday, January 8, 2016
In an effort to create a deeper engagement with educators online, USC Shoah Foundation’s IWitness will host Twitter chat's on the 2nd or 4th Wednesday of every month. Meet fellow IWitness educators, ask questions directly to the IWitness team and join the IWitness community.Follow the IWitness twitter account @USCIWitness and to join the chat follow and send tweets with #IWitnessChat.
#IWitnessChat / Friday, January 8, 2016
USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research Director Wolf Gruner will give a lecture at University of Texas at Austin entitled "Defiance and Protest. Forgotten Individual Jewish Reactions to the Persecution in Nazi Germany." 
/ Monday, January 11, 2016
USC Shoah Foundation Executive Director Stephen Smith is part of a group of partners invited to attend the 2016 graduation ceremony at Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village and review the work of their respective organizations in Rwanda.
agahozo shalom, asyv, Stephen Smith, aegis / Monday, January 11, 2016
USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research Director Wolf Gruner will present a paper at the fourth international interdisciplinary conference and workshop on The Future of Holocaust Testimonies in Akko, Israel on March 8, 2016.
/ Monday, January 11, 2016
USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research Director Wolf Gruner will give a lecture at Texas A&M University entitled "Defiance and Protest: Forgotten Individual Jewish Reactions to the Persecution in Nazi Germany."  
/ Monday, January 11, 2016
USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research Director Wolf Gruner will give a lecture at Cornell University, as well as conduct a workshop on testimonies from the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive."Defiance and Protest: Forgotten Individual Jewish Reactions to the Persecution in Nazi Germany"
/ Monday, January 11, 2016
After learning about IWitness from an Echoes and Reflections seminar, Tim Derbish incorporated it into a Holocaust project his school has assigned for nearly 20 years.At Dorseyville Middle School in Pittsburgh, Penn., every year the eighth graders complete a Holocaust research project called the Notebook of Remembrance. Students research different aspects of the Holocaust and produce essays, personal accounts, and other creative works.
/ Tuesday, January 12, 2016
A group of educators and community members in Portland, Ore., learned about IWitness and met with Carl and Teresa Wilkens at a special seminar this fall.
teacher training, Rwanda Genocide, Carl Wilkens / Tuesday, January 12, 2016
This event is cancelled for Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, but will be rescheduled for another time. Follow USC Shoah Foundation's student organization DEFY for updates.   
/ Wednesday, January 13, 2016
internal / Wednesday, January 13, 2016
internal / Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Agnes talks about the numerous conflicts she faced as she migrated from Romania to Sweden on an extremely long journey, including unpleasant interactions with numerous people and having to hide her money in her shoe.
clip / Wednesday, January 13, 2016
The group aims to discover new insights about movement, spaces and time in Holocaust survivor testimonies.
gis, geography, cagr / Wednesday, January 13, 2016
USC Shoah Foundation's educational platform, IWitness continues hosting free webinars for educators throughout 2016. These webinars aim to provide a more in-depth and interactive approach to learning how to teach with testimony.
IWitness Webinar / Wednesday, January 13, 2016

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