Every year on July 18, the world celebrates Nelson Mandela International Day, a day that honors the work and legacy of the South African leader and asks people to spend time fighting for social justice as Mandela himself did.

Jewish survivor Dennis Urstein explains the importance of learning from the past, which is why he dedicates a lot of his time speaking with young children. He also describes a difficult situation he handled when speaking with a group of young people.

Nineteen educators gathered at Central European University Budapest the first weekend in July to share the activities they piloted in the classroom after being initiated into the Master Teacher program in Hungary last year.

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.

Jewish survivor Rafael Lewin discusses his transfer from the internment camp Drancy, in France, to Auschwitz. The train was delayed once it arrived outside of Auschwitz and Rafael was lucky enough to go to a work camp rather than continue inside the death camp with the families still on the train.

The 22 new testimonies will bring the total number in the Nanjing Massacre collection to 72.

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.

USC Shoah Foundation has significantly increased its reach online and in the classroom over the past three years, according to new statistics released about the Institute’s 2016 fiscal year.

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.”

USC Shoah Foundation colleagues from around the world met for two days to discuss the progress and next steps of the Visual History Archive Program, which aims to drastically expand access to the Visual History Archive over the next five years.

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.

Helen Colin describes the liberation of Bergen Belsen, and how elated she and the other prisoners were to see the British army and receive food rations.

USC Shoah Foundation education staff are once again on the road this week to introduce educators in Texas and Massachusetts to IWitness.

Liberator Morris Marsh, who served as a seargent in the Royal Air Force, says there were far more casualties at the D-Day invasion than was reported to the public, and describes re-enacting the attack for newsreel cameras.

Updates to IWitness in time for the new school year will include a suite of Spanish-language full-length testimonies, testimony clips and activities from USC Shoah Foundation’s new Guatemalan Genocide collection.

Helen Colin's daughter Muriel explains how their family first discovered the interview her mother gave at the liberation of Bergen-Belsen. Helen says she shares her story so that future generations can learn from it. This is part of the follow-up interview Helen gave to USC Shoah Foundation in June 2016.

Armenian survivor Siranoush Danielan remembers being deported with her family from her home in Marash. Her brother had left previously without them, but they were fortunate to reunite later on when someone recognized their last name at a registry.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Listen to Jewish survivors and other eyewitnesses to the Holocaust describe watching the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. In preparation for the start of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, the Nazis in power decided to minimize the presence of antisemitism in the city.

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. 

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.