USC Shoah Foundation will next week launch the U.S. premiere of The Tattooed Torah, an animated film that tells the inspirational story of a Torah rescued and restored after the Holocaust.  The film, based on Marvell Ginsburg’s beloved children’s book of the same name, recounts the true story of the rescue and restoration of a small Torah from Brno, Czechoslovakia. In the film, the Torah is described as the most “precious possession” of the Jewish people and is a symbol that represents memories tied to cultural heritage, family, hope and resilience. 

Award winning documentary, Liberation Heroes: The Last Eyewitnesses explores the journeys of Liberators and Liberation Witnesses drawing parallels between the past and present. These one-of-a-kind stories of World War II heroes serve as a compelling reminder of what is at stake as antisemitism and xenophobia are on the rise again, and as a call to action to stand against hatred in all its forms.

The short-animated film, The Tattooed Torah brings to life the true story of the rescue and restoration of a small Torah from Brno, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) The film provides students an opportunity to reflect on fundamental themes of family, hope, resilience, and cultural traditions appropriate for the K-5 audience. In this webinar, educators will learn effective strategies for primary level students on how to integrate The Tattooed Torah and supporting testimony-based resources, now available on IWitness.

USC Shoah Foundation’s Dimensions in Testimony enables people to ask questions that prompt real-time responses from pre-recorded video interviews with Holocaust survivors and other witnesses to genocide. This innovative project integrates advanced filming techniques, specialized display technologies, and next generation natural language processing to create an interactive biography that humanizes the individual story. Pairing Dimensions in Testimony with Echoes & Reflections helps educators pair historical context and effective pedagogical principles with this new and impactful technology. During this webinar, teachers will discover the variety of ways that they can meet and interact with Holocaust survivor, Pinchas Gutter.

An online lecture by Lauren Cantillon (PhD candidate in the Department of Culture, Media & Creative Industries at King’s College London, UK) 2020-2021 Robert J. Katz Research Fellow in Genocide Studies Organized by the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research Cosponsored by the USC Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies

In this lecture, Alan Rosen considers the special manner of witness found in Holocaust-era calendars composed in ghettos, in camps, and in hiding. The marking of fast days and festivals tell a remarkable story; the form, organization, and languages of the calendars convey a related one. And as with testimony in general, what is omitted—a date or a month, a name or a script—speaks volumes. At times, moreover, such calendars served as vehicles for sacred writings, images and symbols as well as for camouflaged defiance. The lecture is based on his recent book The Holocaust’s Jewish Calendars: Keeping Time Sacred, Making Time Holy.

The coup in Myanmar earlier this week, ending the country's experiment with limited democracy, brought to power military and police implicated in carrying out genocide against the Rohingya people in 2017.    This troubling development could result in further consequences for the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities in Myanmar. More than 600,000 people remain at risk—perhaps now even more than ever.    

We are very saddened to learn of the passing of Holocaust survivor Irving Roth on February 16, 2021, at the age of 91. A survivor of the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, Roth was a dedicated educator and author who taught generations of people around the world about the horrors of the Holocaust.