The USC Shoah Foundations mourns the passing of friend and colleague Ita Gordon, an indexer, translator, mentor, and researcher who, for nearly thirty years, channeled her passion for testimony into diligent care and expertise that helped the organization become a world leader in collecting, preserving, and sharing Holocaust survivor testimony.
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Leon Bass, who served as a sergeant with the 183rd Engineer Combat Battalion, was among the first U.S. soldiers to enter the Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1945. Inspired by his experiences, he later became a high school principal and spoke extensively about the Holocaust and racism.
The Division of Academic Programs at the USC Shoah Foundation invites applications for its Azrieli Research Fellowship for Graduate Students during the 2025-2026 academic year. Any person who is pursuing a Master’s degree (M.A., M.Ed., MMSt., MI, or other recognized Master’s-level program) or PhD may apply.
The USC Shoah Foundation stands in solemn tribute to the memory of those murdered by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and to those hostages still in captivity. As we mark this day, we reflect not only on the devastating loss of life but also on the dangerous beliefs that led to this atrocity.
The attacks on October 7 revealed the persistence of virulent antisemitism in communities across the globe. Antisemitism threatens the memory of the Holocaust, threatens individual lives and communities, and undermines democratic values, the rule of law, and global security.
The USC Shoah Foundation announced a partnership with the Berlin-based Kreuzberg Initiative against Anti-Semitism (KIgA), a collaboration that will increase European access to testimonies of survivors of the Holocaust and other genocides and create wide-reaching programming to counter antisemitism.
New York, NY (October 14, 2024) —Nearly 700 guests convened for an unforgettable evening of celebration and inspiration at the USC Shoah Foundation’s Ambassadors for Humanity Gala. This milestone event marked the institute's 30th anniversary, honoring the resilience of Holocaust survivors while emphasizing the critical importance of preserving their testimonies for future generations.
Charlotte Knobloch, born in Munich in 1932, survived the Holocaust disguised as a Christian child on a Bavarian farm. After the war, she reunited with her father and remained in Germany, eventually dedicating her life to combating antisemitism. The XR Experience “Inside Kristallnacht” centers on her story.
In this message to her grandchildren, Dr. Knobloch emphasized the importance of taking pride in one’s Judaism in an era of antisemitism and misinformation.
Dr. Alexandra Birch is a professional violinist and historian who is presently a PhD candidate at UC Santa Barbara, and fellow at the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Advanced Genocide Studies. She also holds a BM, MM, and DMA from Arizona State University in violin performance. Her current project Sonic Terror: Music, Murder, and Migration in the USSR investigates the contemporaneous atrocities of the Holocaust and Gulag via recovered musical scores and soundscapes creating a humanizing look at incomprehensible violence.
Denisa Nešťáková is a historian focusing on 20th-century East Central Europe, the Holocaust and gender studies. She is a research associate at the Herder Institute, and currently concluding her post-doctoral project Privileged to be in Hell. Jewish Women in the Sereď Camp which has been carried thank to the Saul Kagan Fellowship in Advanced Shoah Studies. Her examination of the history of family planning resulted in her 2023 book Be Fruitful and Multiply. Slovakia’s Family Planning under three regimes (1918-1965).
The Division of Academic Programs at the USC Shoah Foundation invites applications from PhD candidates and early-career scholars for the inaugural cohort of fellows in its non-residential colloquium “The LGBTQIA+ Community in the Holocaust.” We understand this topic broadly and are seeking applicants whose work touches on the members of any nation persecuted by the Nazis or their allies for their sexual identity, along with the long-term impact and legacies of this history.