There are many Holocaust survivors who wrote after the war about their experiences, but Beatrice Mousli Bennett is focusing her attention on writers who are far less studied: those who continued to write even while they faced occupation, deportations and oppression in the throes of World War II. Bennett is the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research’s 2016 Faculty Summer Research Fellow. The fellowship provides support for a USC faculty member to conduct research in the Visual History Archive while in residence at the Center for one month.

Robert J. Katz, one of USC Shoah Foundation’s most dedicated and long-term supporters, has announced his retirement from USC Shoah Foundation’s Board of Councilors, and that he will remain chair emeritus on the board for the next three years.

USC Shoah Foundation will kick off its 2016-17 school year education for Detroit-area teachers with an ITeach Seminar the weekend of August 15, followed by 12 more IWitness Detroit professional development seminars held through April of 2017.

The staff of the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research had a dilemma on their hands. They could only choose one applicant to award the 2016 Graduate Summer Research Fellowship – but they couldn’t bring themselves to turn away their runner-up, Piotr Florczyk, because his proposal was so fascinating. It’s easy to see why. Florczyk, a PhD candidate in the USC Literature and Creative Writing program, intends to write poetry inspired by the testimonies of Polish Holocaust survivors in the archive.

Faculty at universities around the world have three more weeks to apply for two fellowships at the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research.

Discover the testimonies of Holocaust survivors who share memories of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which is commemorating its 80th anniversary this week as the 2016 Olympics begin in Rio de Janeiro.

All testimonies from USC Shoah Foundation’s Armenian Genocide collection have been indexed and will be integrated into the Visual History Archive in the coming months.

In an effort to create a deeper engagement with educators online, USC Shoah Foundation’s IWitness hosts Twitter chats on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month. Meet fellow IWitness educators, ask questions directly to the IWitness team and join the IWitness community.

Help USC Shoah Foundation test a new set of interviews for New Dimensions in Testimony at the  Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.

USC Shoah Foundation, writer Robin Migdol sits down with Kia Hays project manager of New Dimensions in Testimony.

Highlights of the 2016 Master Teacher program in Budapest. A USC Shoah Foundation’s professional development initiative, Master Teacher (formerly Teaching with Testimony) is a two-year program that incorporates workshops, mentoring, and community building to prepare educators to search for and utilize testimony from the Visual History Archive, as well as other digital learning tools such as IWitness.

Carlos Mendes was the son of Aristides Sousa Mendes, Portuguese diplomat stationed in Bordeaux in the late 1930s who issued tens of thousands of visas to Jewish families, in direct violation of anti-Jewish laws instituted by Portugal’s fascist government at the time. Carlos Mendes reflects on his father’s fundamental willingness to risk his career and life to save persecuted Jews.

Carlos Mendes explains the sadness he feels for his father’s overlooked heroism and the pride he feels for the work his father did.  Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a Portuguese diplomat stationed in Bordeaux in the late 1930s who issued tens of thousands of visas to Jewish families, in direct violation of anti-Jewish laws instituted by Portugal’s fascist government at the time. For this act of resistance, Sousa Mendes faced trials and conviction, leaving him to live out the rest of his life in poverty and disgrace, and his 15 children scattered all over Europe and the U.S.

Esther Dresner expresses the gratitude she feels to Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a man who did the right thing, regardless of the price.  Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a Portuguese diplomat stationed in Bordeaux in the late 1930s who issued tens of thousands of visas to Jewish families, in direct violation of anti-Jewish laws instituted by Portugal’s fascist government at the time. For this act of resistance, Sousa Mendes faced trials and conviction, leaving him to live out the rest of his life in poverty and disgrace, and his 15 children scattered all over Europe and the US.

Jewish survivor Henri Deutsch explains the extent of Aristides de Sousa Mendes’ deep commitment to aiding persecuted Jews.  Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a Portuguese diplomat stationed in Bordeaux in the late 1930s who issued tens of thousands of visas to Jewish families, in direct violation of anti-Jewish laws instituted by Portugal’s fascist government at the time.

Henri Deutsch reflects on the sacrifice that Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes  made to save the lives of so many Jews during the Holocaust. Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a Portuguese diplomat stationed in Bordeaux in the late 1930s who issued tens of thousands of visas to Jewish families, in direct violation of anti-Jewish laws instituted by Portugal’s fascist government at the time.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a Portuguese diplomat stationed in Bordeaux in the late 1930s who issued tens of thousands of visas to Jewish families, in direct violation of anti-Jewish laws instituted by Portugal’s fascist government at the time. For this act of resistance, Sousa Mendes faced trials and conviction, leaving him to live out the rest of his life in poverty and disgrace, and his 15 children scattered all over Europe and the U.S.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a Portuguese diplomat stationed in Bordeaux in the late 1930s who issued tens of thousands of visas to Jewish families, in direct violation of anti-Jewish laws instituted by Portugal’s fascist government at the time. For this act of resistance, Sousa Mendes faced trials and conviction, leaving him to live out the rest of his life in poverty and disgrace, and his 15 children scattered all over Europe and the U.S.

Benjamin Biniaz is a sophomore at Yale University. During his 2016 summer break he is interning with USC Shoah Foundation’s communication department. His family has been involved with the Institute for many years since his grandmother Celina Biniaz and great- grandmother Phyllis Karp gave their testimonies to the Visual History Archive in 1996.  

The fifth annual Master Teacher program in Poland (formerly called Teaching with Testimony in the 21st Century) introduced thirteen educators to the Visual History Archive, sparking new ideas for teaching their students about the Holocaust and current events in their country.

Edward Łukawer was a famous Polish Jewish economist who lectured at the Krakow University of Economics. Now, four students and a professor at that same school are working on developing the material for a movie on him using the testimony he gave to USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive.

USC Shoah Foundation’s education regional consultant for the United States, Rob Hadley, is teaching 30 educators about IWitness during the Powell Holocaust Summer Institute at the Henry and Sarah Friedman Holocaust Center for Humanity in Seattle this week, August 8-12.

Holocaust survivor Gerda Cohn looks back fondly on her childhood school. It was a supportive environment and children even received candy on the first day of school.

Cesarani died last year just weeks after being named the Center's inaugural Sara and Asa Shapiro Scholar in Residence.

Cosponsored by The SCA Alumni Screening Series, USC Institute of Armenian Studies and The Center for Advanced Genocide Research at the USC Shoah Foundation Directed by SCA Alumna Naré Mkrtchyan Produced by Naré Mkrtchyan and Rob Fried Followed by a Q&A with Naré Mkrtchyan 7:30 P.M. on Thursday, September 1st, 2016 The Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007 FREE ADMISSION. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. RSVPs REQUIRED.

In this clip, Esperance Kaligirwa recalls being rounded up by men intent on killing her and her family but were spared by the actions of her neighbors who interceded for them.

This clip is an excerpt of the footage J. Michael Hagopian filmed of Armenian Genocide survivor Abdulla Garabed's funeral, just two weeks after he filmed Garabed's testimony. The first part of the clip is the procession of attendees and the ceremony, with no audio. The second part is a short clip of the funeral ceremony that took place.

The integration of the final Armenian Genocide collection testimonies in the coming months will bring unique stories and testimony formats to USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive — including one that includes both a survivor’s life and his death.

After Pamela Applebaum attended USC Shoah Foundation’s Ambassadors for Humanity gala in Detroit last year, she knew the Institute was something she wanted to be a part of.  “We immediately embraced the importance of ensuring the vital preservation of the darkest chapter in Jewish history with the enduring vision of connecting the next generation to a modern perspective of this past to better grapple with today’s complicated, challenging, and belligerent environment,” she said.