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Jewish survivor Lotte Kramer discusses the way her poetry has transformed her outlook on life and the Holocaust. Feeling like an outsider in an unfamiliar environment brought up a lot of memories, which were then turned into poems. Her writing has allowed her to open up about her experiences and given her an outlet to share her stories in a very beautiful way.
clip / Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Eric Frisch describes his experience as a runner in the first Olympic torch relay, which spanned from Greece to Germany, at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Frisch further recalls meeting Jesse Owens forty years after the games. 
clip, olympics, jewish survivor, Eric Frisch, Germany / Thursday, July 28, 2016
Fernand Bybelezer shares his memories of French writer and painter Max Jacob, who he knew when he was a young man.
clip / Thursday, July 28, 2016
Ellen Brandt recalls the efforts by the Nazis to hide any evidence of anti-Semitism from the press during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and the intensified anti-Semitism that came after the games. 
clip, olympics, Ellen Brandt, jewish survivor, Germany / Thursday, July 28, 2016
Endre Altmann recalls his experience as a member of the Romanian Olympic fencing team and explains his decision not to participate in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. 
clip, olympics, jewish survivor, Endre Altmann, Germany / Thursday, July 28, 2016
Holocaust survivor Judith Ertsey talks about how she has been treated as an immigrant and a Jew in America, as well as attitudes toward other minority groups.
clip / Friday, July 29, 2016
Jack Bernstein remembers his experience waiting with excitement for liberation soldiers in France in August 1945, and the confusion and frenzy that surrounded their arrival.
clip / Friday, July 29, 2016
Gerda Frieberg describes her reactions to seeing Hitler during the festivities surrounding the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. 
clip, jewish survivor, olympics, Gerda Frieberg, Germany / Friday, July 29, 2016
Armenian survivor Jiryar Zorthian explains how Turkish officials became nervous when Armenians began speaking out for their rights.
clip / Friday, July 29, 2016
Ellen Kilston remembers the Nazis’ hiding of all anti-Semitic propaganda during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. She further explains the role this deception played in shaping foreign perceptions of Jewish life under Hitler.  
clip, olympics, jewish survivor, Ellen Kilston, Germany / Friday, July 29, 2016
Diane Jacobs remembers watching Jesse Owens accept his medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and the admiration she felt for his refusing to salute the Nazi flag. 
clip, olympics, jewish survivor, Germany, diane jacobs / Friday, July 29, 2016
USC Shoah Foundation, writer Robin Migdol sits down with Kia Hays project manager of New Dimensions in Testimony.
ndt / Thursday, August 4, 2016
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.
master teacher / Thursday, August 4, 2016
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.
clip, aid provider, Aristides Sousa Mendes, JFCS collection, Carlos Mendes / Friday, August 5, 2016
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.
clip, male, aid provider, Carlos Mendes, JFCS collection, aristides de sousa mendes / Friday, August 5, 2016
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.
clip, jewish survivor, female, Esther Dresner, aristides de sousa mendes / Friday, August 5, 2016
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.
clip, male, henri deutsch, jewish survivor, visas, aristides de sousa mendes / Friday, August 5, 2016
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.
clip, male, jewish survivor, henri deutsch, aristides de sousa mendes / Friday, August 5, 2016
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.
clip / Tuesday, August 9, 2016
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.
Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, rwanda, rwandan survivor, female, résistance / Wednesday, August 10, 2016
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.
clip / Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Armenian survivor Dirouhi Haigas describes how the Armenians in her town were told to pack very few belongings and leave all their posessions behind in the days leading up to their deportation to the desert of Der Zor. Her father and several other men were hung in the church square.
clip / Thursday, August 11, 2016
Jacek Dabrowski remembers visiting Maximilian Kolbe at his monastery before Kolbe was taken prisoner. Dabrowski was taken to Pawiak prison only two weeks after Kolbe was deported from Pawiak to Auschwitz. 
clip, male, political prisone, Maximilian Kolbe / Friday, August 12, 2016
Jan Dudzinski recalls his interaction with a priest he would later discover was Maximillian Kolbe at Pawiak prison. 
clip, male jewish survivor, Jan Dudzinski, Maximillian Kolbe / Friday, August 12, 2016
Michael Preisler explains the story of Maximilian Kolbe volunteering himself in place of another prisoner, who was going to be killed. Preisler was a prisoner at Pawiak prison after Kolbe had been deported from Pawiak to Auschwitz. 
clip, jewish survivor, Michael Preisler, Maximillan Kolbe / Friday, August 12, 2016
Liberator Martin Becker describes the languages he learned in school and laments how his speaking skills have deteriorated without practice. He was able to immigrate to America in 1938 through a scholarship from an American university in Cairo, Egypt.
clip / Friday, August 12, 2016
Walter Berger describes his family and upbringing before the war began in Czechoslovakia. His brother, Sam, is the subject of the new book "Roses in a Forbidden Garden: A Holocaust Love Story," written by Sam's granddaughter Elise Garibaldi.
clip / Monday, August 15, 2016
Gabriel Krause recalls hearing about the Kielce Pogrom in 1946, Poland.
clip, male, jewish survivor, Gabriel Krause, Kielce / Monday, August 15, 2016
Malwina Moses describes how anti-Semitism continued in Poland after the war including the Keilce Pogrom in 1946.
clip, female, jewish survivor, Kielce, malwina moses, poland, antiSemitism / Monday, August 15, 2016

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