In this clip, Robert Waisman, a Jewish survivor of the Dachau concentration camp, and Leon Bass, the American soldier who helped liberate the camp each recall what they saw on April 11, 1945.
liberation, clip reel, dachau / Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Kurt, an American soldier, and Gerda, a Holocaust survivor, recall how they met the day Kurt liberated her from a derelict factory where Nazi soldiers abandoned her and other women during a death march.
liberation, clip reel, death march, Kurt Klein, gerda klein / Tuesday, January 2, 2018
When Elizabeth Holtzman of New York became the youngest woman in American history elected to Congress at age 31, she hadn’t spent much time thinking about Nazi war criminals. But when a whistleblower in 1973 brought to her attention the fact that such perpetrators were living in the United States with full knowledge of the federal government, she decided to use the power of her office to do something about it.
Elizabeth Holtzman / Friday, January 5, 2018
In this clip from testimony recorded in Bangladesh in 2017, Anwar Sadek, a Rohingya refugee, refuses to stay silent about the Myanmar government's treatment of the Rohingya.
/ Friday, January 5, 2018
As we look ahead in 2018, we offer a few moments of joyful music from the Visual History Archive.
music, music recital, clip reel / Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Barbara Reichmann survived the Holocaust by going into hiding and concealing her identity. In order to survive, she volunteered to work as a Polish forced laborer, which brought her eventually to Ulm, Germany. She was liberated by French armed forces. In Munich, she met her husband, Leon Reichmann, and had a daughter. They eventually emigrated to the United States.
/ Thursday, January 11, 2018
Davina Pardo is a determined woman. For two years, the Emmy award-winning filmmaker had reached out to USC Shoah Foundation and Conscience Display, asking again and again for access to create a documentary about the New Dimensions in Testimony program. A native Canadian residing in Brooklyn, Pardo was no stranger to grappling with memories of mass murder. She had previously spent time in Rwanda filming a documentary about the 1994 genocide.
/ Friday, January 12, 2018
Division among people continues to be a root cause of conflict. Students need a relevant perspective to help them recognize how continued reinforcements of stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination play a role in this division. This webinar will focus on ways to contextualize present day manifestations hate through IWitness resources. Register for the Webinar
education, iwitness, webinar / Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Students need to think critically about the implication of bystanders' choices, the reasons behind those choices, and the reasons why they should have acted. We want to encourage our students to always do the right thing and stand up for those in need. To do this, they need to understand the consequences of bystander behavior. This webinar will focus on first-hand stories from victims to help students think critically about inaction and indifference.
education, iwitness, webinar / Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Students are aware of injustices around them, especially in today's political climate. Providing them a way to contribute to the solution validates their social responsibility and activates their learning. With service learning and community service becoming essential parts of curricula we as educators can inspire our students to do good in the world. This webinar will focus on the IWitness Video Challenge, an activity that gets students working for positive change in their communities.
education, iwitness, webinar / Tuesday, January 16, 2018
In a world filled with counter examples, students need our guidance to find real examples of responsible, empathetic behavior. Examining ways in which people care for others by highlighting individuals who had courage to take a stand against prejudice, discrimination, and hate will provide a new authentic perspective of good. Bringing in voices of those who have helped and been helped by others is a powerful way for students to be introduced to these role models.
education, iwitness, webinar, GAM / Tuesday, January 16, 2018
To help students become active civil participants of society, they need to discover and define their voice. Cultivating communication skills and digital literacy are critical to supporting students as they attempt to magnify their voices in support of others. In this webinar, resources that cultivate these skills in students will be featured. Register for the Webinar
education, iwitness, webinar / Tuesday, January 16, 2018
A love of old movies drew Shiraz Bhathena into the moving image archive field. As an archivist and post-production specialist at USC Shoah Foundation, he supervised the process of restoring the Institute's testimonies with video and audio problems. The herculean task is finally complete.
restoration / Friday, January 19, 2018
The testimony of Holocaust survivor Raphael Zimetbaum references Elise Meyer, the aunt of Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, the real-life person portrayed by Meryl Streep in the film "The Post," by Steven Spielberg.
/ Tuesday, January 23, 2018
In this clip, Holocaust survivor Raphael Zimetbaum recounts how Brazilian ambassador Luis Martins de Souza Dantas granted him and his family diplomatic visas, allowing them to eventually escape to Brazil. The ambassador also happened to be married to Elise Meyer, sister of Washington Post owner Eugene Meyer, Katharine Graham's father.
clip, subtitled, holocaust survivor / Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Institute staff is attending this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to demonstrate New Dimensions in Testimony, the Institute’s interactive biographies that enable people to have conversations with pre-recorded video images of Holocaust survivors and other witnesses to genocide.
/ Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Testimony brings to life why we join World Jewish Congress and communities everywhere for International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the #WeRemember campaign.
/ Thursday, January 25, 2018
The world will observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Saturday, which is the 73rd anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. It’s a day of somber reflection, but also a time for education so the world can be better protected from the evils of the past. Among its many programs, USC Shoah Foundation offers IWitness, a free online platform that teachers and students can use to navigate this difficult subject. Among its nearly 200 activities, IWitness has many that focus on Auschwitz, liberation and other topics of relevance to the day’s message.
/ Thursday, January 25, 2018
The top stories of 2017 including media coverage of the Institute's work throughout the year.
/ Monday, January 29, 2018
"Nothing compares to eyewitness accounts," said teacher Ivy Schamis of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. "The students get a better feel for the survivor or liberator when they hear their own words and see their body language. It is very inspiring."
/ Monday, January 29, 2018
The USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research invites research proposals from USC faculty members and graduate students for its Summer 2018 Research Fellowships.
cagr / Wednesday, January 31, 2018
The USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research invites research proposals from USC undergraduate students for its 2018 Summer Research Fellowships.
cagr / Wednesday, January 31, 2018
The IWitness Video Challenge is a 21st century skill builder - teaching students how to use digital tools such as video editors to craft multimedia essays. Most importantly, the challenge provides students the opportunity to positively enhance their digital citizenship as they network and collaborate with others to deal with real world problems.
iwitness, Digital Learning Day, Edtech, Digital Citizenship, Digital Resources, op-eds / Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Drawing on USC Shoah Foundation oral history videos, personal papers, and other sources, Dr. Diane Marie Amann's lecture situates stories of the unsung women who played vital roles at Nuremberg in the context of the Nuremberg trials themselves, international law, and the postwar global society. Diane Marie Amann is the inaugural 2017-2018 Breslauer, Rutman and Anderson Research Fellow.
presentation, discussion, lecture, cagr / Thursday, February 1, 2018
This lecture is part of the series "Hidden Archives - Public Sturggles: Events Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising." Presented by Doheny Memorial Library and co-sponsored by the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research.
cagr / Friday, February 2, 2018
Inaugural Breslauer, Rutman & Anderson Research Fellow Diane Marie Amann gave a public lecture at the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research about her research on the little-known women involved in the Nuremberg Trials.
cagr / Friday, February 2, 2018
Jean-Marc Dreyfus, PhD, Reader in Holocaust Studies in the History department at the University of Manchester (United Kingdom) has been awarded the 2018-2019 Center Research Fellowship.
cagr, jean-marc dreyfus / Monday, February 5, 2018
Christopher R. Browning, Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been chosen as the 2017-2018 Sara and Asa Shapiro Scholar in Residence.
cagr, christopher browning, sara shapiro / Monday, February 5, 2018
This series will highlight one teaching activity per day for 10 days, pairing eyewitness testimony with standards-aligned lessons that transform learning.
black history month, iwitness, Ted Talk / Monday, February 5, 2018

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