Colin is thought to have the distinction of being the first survivor to speak on camera, just after liberation from Bergen-Belsen, which happened to be her 22nd birthday.

Acclaimed researcher Alex Hinton will give a lecture at the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research on November 2. The lecture, which will begin at 4 p.m., is open to the public at USC’s Social Sciences Building.

On July 30, 1937 the head of Soviet secret police Nikolai Ezhov signed the order that started a mass punitive operation against their own citizens.

At this time of remembrance, I hope I am incorrect in thinking that public awareness of the Shoah is eroding. Information about this act of atrocity is still proliferating, so unawareness clearly cannot be attributed to absent knowledge. There is, in fact, an incredible amount of knowledge … and a growing reluctance to understand it.