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Holocaust survivor Gena Turgel was known in the British press as the “Bride of Belsen” for marrying a British liberator of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where she was a prisoner. She gave her testimony to USC Shoah Foundation in 1998.
Eighty years ago, at the behest of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, representatives from 32 countries convened for a refugee conference in Evian-les-Bains, France to address a gathering storm in Nazi Germany – and discuss what to do about the intensifying persecution of Jews throughout Europe.
The event from July 6-15, 1938 would end in failure.
Christopher R. Browning (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
2018 Sara and Asa Shapiro Scholar in Residence
“Holocaust History and Survivor Testimony: The Case of the Starachowice Factory Slave Labor Camp”
Her grandmother was rescued from the Holocaust by Nicholas Winton’s Kindertransport, which spirited 669 children – most of them Jewish – from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to safe harbor in Britain.
In recognition of their longstanding commitment to humanitarian causes and support of veterans, Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks were presented the Ambassador for Humanity Award by Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg, USC trustee and founder of USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education.
Comedian Martin Short hosted the event, which featured remarks from special guest Oprah Winfrey and a musical performance from Melissa Etheridge. USC Interim President Wanda M. Austin also shared some remarks.
An ITS group has worked since April of 2017 to expand the discoverability of testimonies for students, researchers and anyone else searching for information about specific genocide events.
The New York Times recently published a piece about the rerelease of a book that spotlighted the efforts of non-Jewish Europeans who risked their lives to protect Jews during the Holocaust.
The rerelease coincides with the 30th anniversary of the book, “Rescuers,” by children’s author Malka Drucker and portrait photographer Gay Block.
At least three of the featured rescuers gave testimonies to USC Shoah Foundation.
Like many countries around the world, we commemorated Labor Day on May 1 here in Germany. The day also coincided with the beginning of a new government position – commissioner for Jewish life in Germany and to fight antisemitism, but everyone refers to it as the “Antisemitism Commissioner.” The inaugural holder is Felix Klein, a career diplomat with an international law degree, who coincidentally happens to come from the same town I grew up in.
Call for Papers:
International Conference "In Global Transit: Forced Migration of Jews and other Refugees (1940s-1960s)"
May 19-22, 2019
Conference at GHI WEST and The MAGNES Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the University of California, Berkeley
Conveners:
- Simone Lässig (German Historical Institute Washington/GHI West, UC Berkeley)
- Wolf Gruner (USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research, Los Angeles)
- Francesco Spagnolo (The Magnes, UC Berkeley)
- Swen Steinberg (University of Dresden)