The Following Op-Ed was published in U.S. News by the USC Shoah Foundation's Finci-Viterbi Executive Director, Robert J. Williams, Ph.D. January 27, 2025   As we commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day today and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, we find ourselves at a critical juncture in history.

At age 4, Morris Dancyger witnessed the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet forces. In his 2008 testimony held by the Calgary Jewish Federation and part of the USC Shoah Foundation archive, Morris recalled the moment he and his family realized Soviet troops had entered their barracks. Shortly after liberation, a Soviet military crew filmed Morris revealing his concentration camp tattoo. This historic footage later appeared in the 1945 documentary "Oswiecem" (Auschwitz), which documented evidence of Nazi crimes and atrocities.

We are saddened to learn of the passing of György Kun, who gave his testimony in October 1999 in Budapest, Hungary. His daughter, Andrea Szonyis, an educator and former colleague at the USC Shoah Foundation, authored a story in the series "Voices from the Archive” about her father.