The footsteps of Holocaust survivors come to life in IWalks, USC Shoah Foundation’s interactive testimony-based educational program.

USC Shoah foundation is saddened to learn of the recent passing of Anneliese Nossbaum, who survived a Jewish ghetto and three concentration camps. Anneliese passed away March 23, 2020 after falling ill within weeks of returning from a trip that commemorated the 75-year anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. She was 91. She was born on January 8, 1929 in Guben, Germany as Anneliese Winterberg.  At the age of two, her family moved to Bonn where her father later became the rabbi of their synagogue.  

"Silence is not an option" became the motto of over 100 guests who learned about USC Shoah Foundation’s mission to fight against hatred and intolerance through genocide survivor and witness testimony.

In this lecture, Dr. Robert J. Williams, Mark Weitzman, and Dr. James Wald will present on their recently-published edited volume, the Routledge History of Antisemitism.

A public lecture by Charlotte Kiechel (Williams College) 2021-2022 USC Shoah Foundation Robert J. Katz Research Fellow in Genocide Studies (Join us in person for this lecture or attend virtually on Zoom) Organized by the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research and the USC Shoah Foundation

Join USC Shoah Foundation and the Museum of Jewish Heritage for a panel discussion with the book’s editors, who will reflect on how a deeper understanding of the history of antisemitism can help us counter it today.

We are grateful that so many of these survivors, partners, friends, and family members have entrusted us to share their stories for future generations, and for the passion and dedication they brought in support of our mission.

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.

Monday, November 17, 7:30-9:00 pmGrand Ballroom at the USC Radisson (3540 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90007)USC Shoah Foundation and its Center for Advanced Genocide Research present an evening panel discussion as a part of the Through Testimony 2014 International Conference, “Memory, Media, and Technology: Exploring the Trajectories of Schindler’s List.”Moderated by USC Shoah Foundation Executive Director Stephen D. Smith.

The 53,000 testimonies in the Visual History Archive from the USC Shoah Foundation tell a complete personal history of life before, during and after the interviewee’s firsthand experience with genocide. These testimonies are an invaluable resource for humanity, as in addition to their experience through some of the darkest chapters of human history; the testimonies also recount happy memories of childhood and successes in life including careers, children and grandchildren. 

Holocaust survivor recalls experiences in Poland.

Howard Gillman, Dean of USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, announces newly appointed leadership positions of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute’s Board of Councilors.

At one point in the horrific spring of 1994, Narcisse Gasimba had given up. Since April, Gasimba and other resistors in the mountains of western Rwanda had been using stones and spears to fend off wave after wave of Hutu attacks against Tutsis on the Bisesero hillside, but by the end of June their efforts felt fruitless. Tens of thousands, including members of Gasimba’s own family, had been massacred by Hutu attackers.

Hungarian ethics teachers and Polish educators were introduced this spring to IWalk, USC Shoah Foundation’s educational program that combines testimony with real-life locations, and are interested in incorporating it into their teaching.  

Thousands of people came to Times Square on Sunday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, and to demand the U.S. government recognize the slaughter of 1.5 million people as genocide. In a speech at the event, USC Shoah Foundation Executive Director Stephen Smith said that the world must stand together speak for those who are not here to speak for themselves.

Recently released by Focus Features, Final Account, the documentary from Participant Media, shares never-before-seen interviews with the last living generation of people to have participated in Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. Filmed over a 10-year period, the timely documentary raises questions about authority, conformity, complicity, perpetration, national identity, and responsibility, as men and women—ranging from former SS members to civilians—reckon with their memories, perceptions, and personal appraisals of their role in the Holocaust.

The Problems Without Passports trip to Rwanda ends today after a busy second week that included visits to some of Rwanda’s most stunning nature sites and opportunities for the students to meet politicians and international representatives.

The conference is “Legal Legacies of Genocide: From Nuremberg to the International Criminal Courts.” USC Shoah Foundation Executive Director Stephen Smith is one of the presenters.

A presentation by Tim Cole (Bristol University), Alberto Giordano (Texas State University), Paul Jaskot (DePaul University), and Anne Knowles (University of Maine)Holocaust Geographies CollaborativeUSC, Social Sciences Building, Room 250

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) today announced the appointment of USC Shoah Foundation Finci-Viterbi Executive Director Robert Williams as Advisor to the IHRA for a three-year term.

Even though we are limited right now in our access to physical spaces, families, teachers, students, and community members from around the country can remotely experience the dynamic Horwitz-Wasserman Memorial Plaza located in Philadelphia with the support of the new IWalk app from USC Shoah Foundation

Over the course of their stay, the team built six IWitness activities focused on peace building in Rwanda. The first to go online will focus on Propaganda and Social Cohesion, which will be available for teachers and students by Tuesday, Feb. 13.

We are grateful that so many of these survivors, partners, friends, and family members have entrusted us to share their stories for future generations, and for the passion and dedication they brought in support of our mission.

Kosal Path and Karen Jungblut taught Conflict Resolution and Peace Research course.

Rob Hadley, USC Shoah Foundation education consultant in the U.S., will lead an introductory IWitness workshop at the one-day seminar “Teaching and Learning About the Holocaust” Saturday, June 4, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

New Dimensions in Testimony will be exhibited in the Abe & Ida Cooper Survivor Stories Experience, enabling visitors to interact with the project’s filmed testimonies of 13 survivors, including seven who live in the Chicago area.

Aleksan Markaryan’s crystal-clear memory of the genocide against the Armenian people in 1915 has given him the distinction of being the last survivor interviewed by the Armenian Film Foundation for its collection of Armenian Genocide survivor and witness testimonies.

After escaping a Jewish ghetto in occupied Poland, 13-year-old Sara Guralnik hid in plain sight, passing as an orthodox Christian in the Ukrainian countryside, where she was taken in by a farmer and his wife who did not know her true identity. The award-winning film My Name Is Sara tells the story of her courage and her harrowing journey. Hear about Sara’s inspiring story and her legacy from her granddaughter and son, the film director, and the actress who portrays her, with context provided by a Museum historian.

The Institute mourns the passing of members of our community in 2022, including survivors who have given testimony, Joe Adamson, Helen Fagin, Sigmund Burke, Vera Gissing, Gerda Weissmann Klein, Bill Harvey, Max Glauben, Max Eisen, Phillip Maisel, Edward Mosberg, Judah Samet and Robert Clary.

Dimensions in Testimony highlights “Speaking Memories,” an exhibit by the organization Jewish Culture in Sweden featuring the voices and stories of Holocaust survivors. The Swedish History Museum also launched access to the 55,000 testimonies in the Institute’s Visual History Archive.