Longtime USC Shoah Foundation Executive Committee and Board of Councilors member Mickey Shapiro has provided a major endowed gift to create an inaugural academic chair at the Institute that will be dedicated to deepening the study of the impact of Holocaust education.
research / Monday, November 29, 2021
The online discussion will bring together experts to consider the issue of medical ethics during, and in response to, the Holocaust. Panelists will discuss educational initiatives that draw on the history of the Holocaust to develop ethical leadership in a contemporary context.
/ Tuesday, November 30, 2021
On the night of Sidney Bratt’s interview his family was celebrating Hanukkah. He recites the Hanukkah candles blessings from the Jewish prayer book (Siddur) which once belonged to his mother, and is surrounded by his wife and grandchildren while doing so.
clip, male, jewish surivor, sidney bratt, hanukkah / Tuesday, November 30, 2021
This new Virtual Field Trip gives students perspective on compassion and understanding otherness when interacting with those who are different from them. Students will learn how refugees adjust to their new homes and cultures and celebrate the courage people can have in times of great change.
education, Teaching with Testimony / Wednesday, December 1, 2021
As a girl in Budapest, Olga Menczer always looked forward to the fourth night of Hanukkah—when she finally got her turn to light the family menorah. Olga recorded her story of survival with us in 1998 and continued to educate her community in New Jersey for many years. We join Olga in wishing all who are sharing in the light a happy fourth candle.
homepage, holiday, hanukkah / Wednesday, December 1, 2021
Today marks the 83rd anniversary of the arrival of the first Kindertransport to the United Kingdom. This rescue operation saved 10,000 child refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe. As part of the commemoration, USC Shoah Foundation has produced an animated short film, “Music Dreams,” based on the story of Lisa Jura, a young Holocaust survivor who in 1938 escaped from Vienna to London on the Kindertransport.
education / Thursday, December 2, 2021
Holocaust Survivor Solly Ganor, on the December holidays in Kaunus (Kovno), Lithuania.
homepage, hanukkah / Thursday, December 2, 2021
Learn more about the film.
/ Thursday, December 2, 2021
It was 83 years ago this week that 13-year-old Lisa Jura boarded a Kindertransport train from Vienna to London, the first step in a journey that would be memorably depicted by her daughter Mona Golabek in the acclaimed The Children of Willesden Lane books. A series of rescue efforts organized by Sir Nicholas Winton, the Kindertransport helped nearly 10,000 Jewish children escape from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia to safety in the United Kingdom.
education / Tuesday, December 7, 2021
/ Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Join UNESCO and USC Shoah Foundation for a virtual panel discussion on the topic of “How to counter antisemitism: the role of educators and education.”
education / Wednesday, December 8, 2021
USC Shoah Foundation and The Willesden Project today launch the premiere of Music Dreams, an animated short film story telling the story of Lisa Jura, a young Holocaust survivor who in 1938 escaped from Vienna to London on the Kindertransport.
education / Friday, December 10, 2021
USC Shoah Foundation and The Conscious Kid are partnering to develop and implement a series of grade K-5 resources and education initiatives to counter antisemitism and raise awareness to appreciate cultural, ethnic and religious diversity. The Conscious Kid was founded in 2016 by Katie Ishizuka and Ramon Stephens, both parents of color who found a lack of diverse representation in children’s literature at their local library when looking for reading material for their young sons.
education / Monday, December 13, 2021
 Madame Xia discusses her family's experiences on December 13, 1937, when Japanese forces entered Nanjing, China.
clip, female, chinese, nanjing survivor, homepage / Monday, December 13, 2021
Mya Worrell (they/them) supports the Center's programming, research, and outreach. They’ve been with USC since 2016, earning a BA in Gender & Sexuality Studies and American Studies & Ethnicity in 2020. They joined the Center for Advanced Genocide Research in 2021. While an undergraduate student, they interned at USC Asian Pacific American Student Services and Kaya Press, assisting with events and developing programming.
/ Wednesday, December 15, 2021
The Institute mourns the passing of members of our community in 2021, including survivors who have given testimony Julio Botton, Fritzie Fritzshall, Eddie Jaku, Roman Kent, Rabbi Bent Melchior, Ruth Pearl, Suzy Ressler, Irving Roth, and Marcus Segal.
in memoriam / Friday, December 17, 2021
Another year dominated by the ongoing pandemic draws to a close. From producing animated films to conducting interviews, forging new partnerships and sharing incredible testimonies, 2021 was a year to remember. Here are some of the highlights of the work the Institute has accomplished.
/ Thursday, December 16, 2021
/ Thursday, December 16, 2021
trailer / Friday, December 17, 2021
USC Shoah Foundation and education partners can help you make the film a part of your classroom experience.
/ Friday, December 17, 2021
In February 2012 Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter sat down inside a light stage surrounded by 50 cameras and 6,000 LED bulbs to give his testimony to the USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive. Gutter’s interview was the first proof of concept of Dimensions in Testimony (DiT), a groundbreaking new technology that enables viewers to pose questions to survivors like Gutter and hear their responses in real-time, lifelike conversation.
DiT, Dimensions in Testimony / Monday, December 20, 2021
USC Shoah Foundation and the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute Foundation (AGMI) in Yerevan have launched a new partnership to develop programming to extend the reach of their collections, research and education initiatives using testimony related to the 1915 Ottoman campaign that murdered 1.5 million Armenians.
armenia, Armenian Genocide / Wednesday, December 22, 2021
USC Shoah Foundation and partners Nickelodeon and The Conscious Kid today launch a pair of Talk and Take Action: Guides to Countering Antisemitism that provide teachers and parents with content and tools to talk with children about the discrimination and hate directed at the Jewish community in the United States.
education / Tuesday, December 21, 2021
While deployed in France, US armed forces liberator Jules Barrash remembers asking a French farm couple to cook him and a group of about 15 soldiers a dinner for Christmas in exchange for sea rations and food from the army.
clip, male, liberator, Jules Barrach, christmas, homepage / Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Two USC scholars – graduate student Nicholas Bredie and undergraduate student Atharva Tewari – will share the Beth and Arthur Lev Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2021.
cagr / Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Dr. Johanna Braun, a researcher with the Institute of Culture Studies and Theatre History at the Austrian Academy of Sciences and lecturer in the Department of Art and Education at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, will be conducting research as a visiting scholar at the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research for three months beginning in December 2021. 
cagr / Wednesday, December 1, 2021
In the month of July, Julia Calderón, PhD candidate in Hispanic Languages and Literatures at the University of California, Los Angeles, will work with the Center as a visiting scholar and summer professional intern. Julia Calderón earned a Summer Internship Professionalization grant from the Spanish and Portuguese Department at UCLA that enables her to work at an organization of her choosing over the summer.
cagr / Wednesday, June 30, 2021
In October 1942, when deportations from the Warsaw ghetto paused, more than 20 youth groups and underground units coalesced into a united front. Vladka Meed channeled her despair at losing her family into fighting the Nazis.
/ Friday, June 11, 2021
Stephen Smith, UNESCO chair on Genocide Education and Finci Viterbi Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation talks with Elisha Wiesel about growing up with his father, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Eli Wiesel, and the responsibilities of the second generation.
/ Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Join USC Shoah Foundation Finci-Viterbi Executive Director Stephen Smith as he moderates a panel discussion around the issues of reparation, memory, justice and equity.
/ Tuesday, October 12, 2021

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