USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research will host the international conference “A Conflict? Genocide and Resistance in Guatemala,” at the University of Southern California, Sept. 11-14, 2016. The scholars profiled in this series were each selected to present their research at the conference. Batsabe Martinez Manzanero, a Ph.D. student in Social Anthropology at El Colegio de Michoacán, will speak about the Guatemalan Mayas who live in Mexico, specifically at a former refugee camp known as Maya Tecún.

When eighth-grader Allison Vandal saw a classmate run into the classroom crying, she did the best thing she could think of to help: She wrote the classmate a poem about the power of words. That simple act of kindness would soon grow into something much bigger. Along with her friends and classmates Maya Montell and Caroline Waters, Allison started the Poets Undercover Guild (PUG), a society at Readington Middle School in New Jersey where students give or receive poetry to each other to build an inclusive community within the school.

As seventh-grade students at Rocky Heights Middle School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Amanda Gin and Chloe Voss are still very dependent on their parents. However, they realized that being able to count on adults was a privilege not every child had. “Most of the children at the foster [center] were our age,” Amanda said. “Seeing as how Chloe and I, and many other teens, rely and depend on parents for so many things, it’s hard to imagine life without them. Yet the kids at the foster shelter are able to go through that every day.”

By Mahima Verma Nárcisz Vida always had a desire to help individuals who faced discrimination through the power of education. Today, Vida empowers students and teachers to combat hatred and stand against intolerance through testimony. Vida leads the education programs at Zachor Foundation for Social Remembrance in Budapest, Hungary. She started as a volunteer working closely with Zachor Foundation founder and director, Andrea Szőnyi, who is also USC Shoah Foundation’s international training consultant in Hungary,

USC Shoah Foundation records the testimonies of genocide survivors so the world will never forget their stories. Eighth-grade student Andrea Chang decided to do something similar for her community: document the stories of the elderly. As part of the third-annual IWitness Video Challenge, Andrea created a video demonstrating her project, in which she spoke to the elderly and shared their stories. Her video, “Tell Me Your Story,” took third place in the national competition, landing her a $500 scholarship.

In a new French book about the deportation of Jews from France during the Holocaust, authors Alexandre Doulut, Serge Klarsfeld, and Sandrine Labeau used USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive to help identify survivors. The book, 1945, les rescapés d'Auschwitz témoignent (which roughly translates to 1945, Auschwitz survivors testify), the authors document the testimony of one survivor from each of the 82 deportation convoys that departed from France.

USC Shoah Foundation interviewed Nanjing Massacre survivor Xie Guiying on June 4, 2016, in Nanjing, China, where she currently lives in a senior home. Xie is now 92 years old and in very good health. Xie never received a proper education, however, she is a wonderful storyteller and still has a very vivid memory.

In February, eighth grade S. Canton Scholars Academy student Keven Kim came to realization: Compared to others, his life was quite comfortable and convenient. Though Keven appreciated his fortune, he decided to do something to help those who didn’t have the same advantages he did. “All around the world, there are those who live a relaxed life while others struggle to receive a single meal,” he said. “Seeing this struggle through my own eyes, I had decided to inform others of this desperate struggle and how to support those in need.”

We are sad to learn of the passing of Helen Colin, a Holocaust survivor who had the distinction of being the first survivor to speak on camera after being liberated from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

After seventh grade teacher Rebekah Lang taught the Holocaust for the first time last year, she wasn’t satisfied with her performance. So, she turned to Echoes and Reflections to improve her and her students’ learning experience the next time around.