What does home mean to you during this difficult time? Home doesn’t have to be four walls. Home is an idea, a concept, a place of being. Home can be a song, a person, a smell. It can be an action, a story, a dream for the future. Home isn’t always gentle. Sometimes it is challenging, maybe even frightening. Sometimes it is a place you want to run away from and sometimes it is a place from where you are forced to flee. Sometimes home moves with you and sometimes you never go back. Home may be the family you were born into, or it may be the one you create.

A live online webinar free to students. Starting at 9:30 AM, PDT. Register now to join!

On April 17, 1975, the city of Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, triggering a four-year genocide. In commemoration, USC Shoah Foundation is spotlighting its Cambodia-based learning activities for high school students.

Pictured: Holocaust survivor Elly Gotz who gave his testimony to the Azrieli Foundation in 2018. His interview is one of 31 new testimonies from the Azrieli Foundation that have been indexed and catalogued in the Visual History Archive. This week’s semi-annual VHA release adds 128 new testimonies to the 55,000-strong collection. All the updated testimonies are available at 163 access sites worldwide.

RSVP Today! Get to know USC Shoah Foundation in this brief introductory webinar! Participants will have an opportunity to:

RSVP Today! Get to know USC Shoah Foundation in this brief introductory webinar! Participants will have an opportunity to:

Through our online educational platform IWitness, we will continue our series of Mindful Exploration student webinars. We hope educators and students will join us. Mindful Explorations are age-appropriate for middle and high school students. If you can't join us live, we encourage you to check out the on-demand webinar recordings.

Through our online educational platform IWitness, we will continue our series of Mindful Exploration student webinars. We hope educators and students will join us. Mindful Explorations are age-appropriate for middle and high school students. If you can't join us live, we encourage you to check out the on-demand webinar recordings.

Through our online educational platform IWitness, we will continue our series of Mindful Exploration student webinars. We hope educators and students will join us. Mindful Explorations are age-appropriate for middle and high school students. If you can't join us live, we encourage you to check out the on-demand webinar recordings.

75 years after the end of WWII, please join Finci-Viterbi Executive Director Stephen D. Smith as he discusses concepts of home with Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter. On Yom Hashoah, as the world gathers virtually to remember the loss of 6 million lives during the Holocaust, our conversation will explore the values of family, community and home in our world today and the ways that testimony contributes to these. 

RSVP Today! Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 March of the Living cannot take place on Yom HaShoah (April 20). However, the vital educational mission of the March of the Living remains as urgent as ever.

The coronavirus pandemic has sparked an increase in antisemitism, racism, and white nationalism both online and in the streets, with particular vitriol directed against Asian-Americans. Join us for a program that explores this concerning trend with Yuh-Line Niou, Member of the New York State Assembly, Amy Spitalnick, Executive Director of Integrity First for America, and Stephen Smith, Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation. Join the discussion at 11:00 AM PDT, 2:00 PM EDT on Wednesday, April 22, 2020. RSVP required.

The 45-minute program will feature Mona Golabek, Grammy-nominated concert pianist and author of The Children of Willesden Lane. Ms. Golabek will explore key parts of her book and perform piano classics, guiding students to consider the question: What can I hold on to in my life to help me be resilient in times of change?

In this clip, Sinti-Roma survivor Julia Lentini speaks about recovering her capacity to love again after surviving the Holocaust.

Panama’s Jewish community is commemorating Yom HaShoah virtually this year with a week-long series of thematic Instagram posts that will integrate clips from USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive. In memory of the six million killed, Panama Friends of Yad Vashem coordinated a six-day campaign focused on survivor families in Panama, the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, and community commemorations of Yom HaShoah.

In this talk, Mehmet Polatel (2019-2020 Center Junior Postdoctoral Research Fellow) explores the relationship between the Hamidian Massacres and the Armenian Genocide by tracing people and groups who were directly involved in both of these episodes as perpetrators and usurpers.

Visit the Visual History Archive

  “Continuity, Escalation, and Local Actors: The Hamidian Massacres and the Armenian Genocide” Mehmet Polatel 2019-2020 Center Junior Postdoctoral Research Fellow April 13, 2020

Wasy Mustafa Moshe speaks to USC Shoah Foundation from the Gawilan Refugee Camp in Iraq. Wasy, his wife and daughters all fled from their home in Syria and lived in a makeshift camp at a school, before arriving at Gawilan.

Shirin Mustafa speaks to USC Shoah Foundation after escaping from her home in Syria. Shirin and her family of seven are now internally displaced, living in a makeshift shelter in a school.

53 year-old Salem Farhan Muhammad speaks to USC Shoah Foundation after fleeing from Syria, leaving behind his father. He and his remaining family are now living in the Bardarash Refugee Camp in Iraq.

28 year-old Rozheen speaks to USC Shoah Foundation after fleeing Syria with her family. Rozheen, her husband, and their four kids are now living in the Bardarash refugee camp in Iraq, unsure of when, or if, they will be able to return home.

The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) will feature full access to the public of the USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive (VHA) of over 54,000 testimonies. One of the world’s leading Armenian Studies centers, NAASR advances education and scholarship through supporting and connecting scholars globally and providing outstanding programming to the general public.  NAASR plans to conduct outreach with schools, colleges, libraries, and other institutions in order to spread awareness about the availability of the VHA at NAASR’s headquarters.

My grandmother, Hana, taught me to be alone, to be able to sit in my space and observe all around. She taught me to describe what I see — the stacks of history books, cards sent from friends, photos of my family, vinyls stacked high, and the flowers from my last trip to the grocery store. She taught me to take an interest in the simple parts of life and to find symbolism and comfort in the mundane.