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.
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As Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany traveled throughout the colonial and quasi-colonial Global South, they encountered highly diverse local populations and authorities. Always shadowed by the emerging European catastrophe, uprooted Jews were also precariously privileged as white Europeans in non-western, colonial, or semi-colonial societies.
In the face of history's darkest chapter, Allan J. Hall has become a beacon of hope and resilience, a Holocaust survivor whose life journey exemplifies the human ability to triumph over unimaginable adversity.
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.
Join us as Professors Michelle Lynn Kahn and Steven J. from the University of Southern California’s Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life, explore the lingering international support for Nazism post World War II.
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.
On January 27, 1945, Allied Forces liberated the camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Each year on this anniversary, the world observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a solemn occasion for us all to affirm our commitment to Holocaust remembrance and education and to a world that respects and knows the histories of the victims and survivors of this terrible crime.
Please join the USC Shoah Foundation and our partners at UCLA as we hear from Dr. Leon Saltiel who will focus on the challenges of grappling with the past and with current antisemitism.
The Education Division of the USC Shoah Foundation—The Institute for Visual History and Education invites applications for their inaugural Azrieli Teaching Fellowship for Excellence in Testimony-based Pedagogy for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Join us in person for an exclusive screening of For the Living and a discussion with the USC Shoah Foundation Senior Director of Programs, Dr. Catherine Clark, and Executive Producer of the film, Melinda Goldrich.
For the Living is the story of 250 cyclists who travel to Poland and retrace the liberation path of Holocaust survivor Marcel Zielinski from Auschwitz-Birkenau to Kraków. Their 60-mile odyssey inspires an urgent examination of humanity's equally perilous journey from dehumanization to compassion.