USC Shoah foundation is saddened to learn of the recent passing of Anneliese Nossbaum, who survived a Jewish ghetto and three concentration camps. Anneliese passed away March 23, 2020 after falling ill within weeks of returning from a trip that commemorated the 75-year anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. She was 91. She was born on January 8, 1929 in Guben, Germany as Anneliese Winterberg.  At the age of two, her family moved to Bonn where her father later became the rabbi of their synagogue.  

Only a day after the University of Southern California announced that it would conduct a three-day test to move all classes online, which soon turned into a permanent arrangement until the end of Spring semester, my colleague and I gave our last in-person introduction to the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive to a USC class. Perhaps serendipitously, one of the topics discussed in this class was physical health.

Peter Hayes is Professor Emeritus of History and German and Theodore Zev Weiss Holocaust Educational Foundation Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies at Northwestern University and a former chair of the Academic Committee of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Among his thirteen books are The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies (co-edited with John K. Roth), How Was It Possible? A Holocaust Reader, and Why? Explaining the Holocaust, which also has appeared in German and Spanish translations and shortly will be in Chinese, Polish, and Slovak, as well.

I much enjoyed my stay at the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research in early March, just before the pandemic turned all of our lives upside down. Meeting the wonderful members of the staff and seeing how much the operations of both the Foundation and the Center have grown since my last visit in 2014 were remarkable experiences.

  “Geographies of Persecution in Occupied Paris: Place and Space in Survivors' Testimonies” Maël Le Noc (PhD Candidate in Geography, Texas State University) 2019-2020 Margee and Douglas Greenberg Research Fellow March 12, 2020  

  “Makeshift Murder: The Holocaust at Its Peak” Peter Hayes (Northwestern University) 2019-2020 Shapiro Scholar in Residence March 5, 2020

Twenty-six years after the Genocide Against the Tutsi, please join Finci-Viterbi Executive Director Stephen D. Smith as he discusses concepts of home with genocide survivor Edith Umugiraneza. Stephen Smith will be joined by Executive Director of Aegis Trust Freddy Mutanguha and Rwandan Ambassador to the United States Mathilda Mukantabana.   On a day when Rwanda remembers its terrifying past, our conversation will treasure those who were lost and reflect on their values of family, community and home in our world today. 

What does home mean to you during this difficult time? Home doesn’t have to be four walls. Home is an idea, a concept, a place of being. Home can be a song, a person, a smell. It can be an action, a story, a dream for the future. Home isn’t always gentle. Sometimes it is challenging, maybe even frightening. Sometimes it is a place you want to run away from and sometimes it is a place from where you are forced to flee. Sometimes home moves with you and sometimes you never go back. Home may be the family you were born into, or it may be the one you create.

A live online webinar free to students. Starting at 9:30 AM, PDT. Register now to join!

On April 17, 1975, the city of Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, triggering a four-year genocide. In commemoration, USC Shoah Foundation is spotlighting its Cambodia-based learning activities for high school students.

Julie Gruenbaum Fax was a senior writer and editor at the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles and has co-authored six personal history books. She is currently writing a book about her grandmother’s Holocaust experience.

Pictured: Holocaust survivor Elly Gotz who gave his testimony to the Azrieli Foundation in 2018. His interview is one of 31 new testimonies from the Azrieli Foundation that have been indexed and catalogued in the Visual History Archive. This week’s semi-annual VHA release adds 128 new testimonies to the 55,000-strong collection. All the updated testimonies are available at 163 access sites worldwide.

RSVP Today! Get to know USC Shoah Foundation in this brief introductory webinar! Participants will have an opportunity to:

RSVP Today! Get to know USC Shoah Foundation in this brief introductory webinar! Participants will have an opportunity to:

Through our online educational platform IWitness, we will continue our series of Mindful Exploration student webinars. We hope educators and students will join us. Mindful Explorations are age-appropriate for middle and high school students. If you can't join us live, we encourage you to check out the on-demand webinar recordings.

Through our online educational platform IWitness, we will continue our series of Mindful Exploration student webinars. We hope educators and students will join us. Mindful Explorations are age-appropriate for middle and high school students. If you can't join us live, we encourage you to check out the on-demand webinar recordings.

Through our online educational platform IWitness, we will continue our series of Mindful Exploration student webinars. We hope educators and students will join us. Mindful Explorations are age-appropriate for middle and high school students. If you can't join us live, we encourage you to check out the on-demand webinar recordings.

75 years after the end of WWII, please join Finci-Viterbi Executive Director Stephen D. Smith as he discusses concepts of home with Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter. On Yom Hashoah, as the world gathers virtually to remember the loss of 6 million lives during the Holocaust, our conversation will explore the values of family, community and home in our world today and the ways that testimony contributes to these. 

RSVP Today! Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 March of the Living cannot take place on Yom HaShoah (April 20). However, the vital educational mission of the March of the Living remains as urgent as ever.

The coronavirus pandemic has sparked an increase in antisemitism, racism, and white nationalism both online and in the streets, with particular vitriol directed against Asian-Americans. Join us for a program that explores this concerning trend with Yuh-Line Niou, Member of the New York State Assembly, Amy Spitalnick, Executive Director of Integrity First for America, and Stephen Smith, Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation. Join the discussion at 11:00 AM PDT, 2:00 PM EDT on Wednesday, April 22, 2020. RSVP required.

The 45-minute program will feature Mona Golabek, Grammy-nominated concert pianist and author of The Children of Willesden Lane. Ms. Golabek will explore key parts of her book and perform piano classics, guiding students to consider the question: What can I hold on to in my life to help me be resilient in times of change?

In this clip, Sinti-Roma survivor Julia Lentini speaks about recovering her capacity to love again after surviving the Holocaust.