Barnabas Balint is a PhD candidate in History at Magdalen College, University of Oxford, UK and the 2021-2022 Breslauer, Rutman, and Anderson Research Fellow at the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research. Read more about him here. 

In the Special Collections at the University of Southern California Libraries there is a book – large, heavy, and musty, it contains the names of thousands of Holocaust survivors who lived in the Pest region of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, in 1947. (Holocaust Survivors of the Jewish Community of Pest register, Collection no. 6057, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California)

USC Shoah Foundation worked closely with The Survivor team to bring the important film to the screen and received a production credit. Assistance included providing access to Haft’s and other survivors’ testimonies in the Visual History Archive, and consulting with the producers to ensure historical accuracy. Crispin Brooks is curator of the Visual History Archive and over the years has played a key role in archiving its testimonies. He is also immersed in Eastern European studies. He spoke to us about consulting on The Survivor.

An animated short film that brings to life the remarkable childhood journey of media personality, author and Holocaust survivor Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer netted one of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival’s three coveted Audience Awards last month. Produced by USC Shoah Foundation and Delirio Films, Ruth: A Little Girl’s Big Journey traces Dr. Ruth’s escape from Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. The film was awarded the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival’s Best Short Film prize in early April.

The 2021-2022 William P. Lauder Junior Interns program wrapped up last month with special guest Jewish Holocaust survivor Dr. Elena Nightingale calling on participants to speak up when confronted by discrimination and injustice. “Young people's voices are listened to [and] have more power than you think. Don’t be a bystander,” the physician and human rights activist told the interns at the final session of the 10-week program. “Make your voices heard.”

Survivor Gad Ben-Meir recalls the Baghdad Pogrom of June 1-2, 1941, during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, and what he saw looking out his window as a 9-year-old boy.

Lacey Schauwecker contributes to the Institute’s educational and professional development programming, with a focus on Spanish-language materials. Having taught at the university level for over a decade, Lacey has extensive experience with testimony-based curriculum, digital humanities, and service-learning partnerships. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Southern California, an M.A. in Critical Theory from the University of Sussex, and a B.A. in English and Spanish from Santa Clara University.

Lesly Culp is USC Shoah Foundation’s Interim Director of Education and Outreach. In her role, she leads the educational strategic plan to make audiovisual testimonies and interactive biographies of survivors and witnesses of genocide and mass atrocity accessible to educators and students worldwide. She is a National Board-Certified teacher with 22 years of classroom experience who earned her M.S. in Education Curriculum and Instruction and B.A. in English Literature from the University of Southern California.

Download video Download Host Kit   About Yehudah Bakon Yehudah Bakon was born in Moravska Ostrava (Czechoslovakia) on July 28, 1929.

Download video Download Home Kit יוסף באו נולד ב 18- ביוני 1920 בקרקוב, שבפולין. כשהיה בן 18 התחיל ללמוד אמנות פלסטית באוניברסיטת קרקוב, אך מלחמת העולם השנייה קטעה את לימודיו. בתחילה הועבר יחד עם שאר יהודי העיר לגטו קרקוב ולאחר מכן למחנה הריכוז פלאשוב, במחנה זה הכיר את אשתו רבקה והם התחתנו בסתר בתוך מחנה הנשים.

Download video Download Host Kit  

Download video Download Host Kit   About Dr. Edith Eger Edith Eger was born in 1927 in Kosice, (then Czechoslovakia, later Hungary, now Slovakia) to Hungarian Jewish parents. She had two sisters.

Descargar video Descargar Kit   Sobre Elie Alevy Elie Alevy nació en Salónica, Grecia en 1926 en el seno de una familia judía de clase media. Tenía dos hermanas mayores.

Download video Download Host Kit   About Erika Gold Erika Gold was born in Germany on January 4, 1928. She was five years old when Hitler came to power.

Download video Download Host Kit   About Kurt Thomas Kurt Thomas was born in the city of Brno, Czechoslovakia, in 1914. He grew up in Boskovice, a small town with a famous medieval Jewish quarter. Kurt was drafted into the Czechoslovak Army, where he received military training.

We mourn the loss of ten innocent lives in yet another mass shooting fueled by hate, this time at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. According to authorities, the 18-year-old alleged shooter drove 200 miles to the supermarket in the predominantly African American neighborhood and livestreamed the attack.

"When I look up [to] the dome, and the flag, I choke up — every morning!" In honor of Jewish American Heritage Month, we salute Tom Lantos, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1981-2008.     Watch Tom Lantos’ full testimony. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grX4jkVJfPA  

In honor of National Archives Month, here are 10 unique facts about USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive.

Cate Wilson is the Community Engagement and Outreach specialist for the USC Shoah Foundation’s education department. She earned an MA in Religion and is completing her PhD, both from Claremont School of Theology. She joined the Institute in 2016. In addition to community engagement and outreach, she draws on 15 years of experience as a line-producer and production manager in the film and television industries contributing to project management for the education department. She earned her PhD in Practical Theology from Claremont McKenna College.

Jessica joined USC Shoah Foundation as Community Program Administrator in 2022. Prior, she worked for Liberation75, and developed Canadian activities for iWitness in 2018. Jessica earned her Master of Education from the University of Toronto.

Jayne joined USC Shoah Foundation in 2012, and is based in New York and Philadelphia. Currently the Director of Community Engagement & Outreach Programming, Jayne served as Managing Director of Advancement from 2012-2022. Prior to joining USC, Jayne was President of The ARJAY Group and spent over 25 years as a special event, fundraising and volunteer management consultant. She is a graduate of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat helped thousands of Jews flee to Japan by issuing them Japanese transit visas. Abraham Brumberg and his family were saved because of Sugihara’s brave efforts. Brumberg remembers the journey from Europe to Japan and recalls his first impression of the islands of Japan. 

Herbert Zipper, a Vienna-born conductor and composer, was imprisoned in Dachau in 1938 and 1939. He describes how prisoners found humanity in poetry and music.

Alexa Dollar flings open her arms and spins across the stage, relishing the moment as if she’s just arrived at a party thrown in her honor. She kicks out her leg and flutters back across the floor, chasing the piano’s tantalizing lilt. Drew Lybolt comes next, taking over the stage with powerful leaps and commanding twirls set to an insistent, almost argumentative, piano vignette.

Herbert Zipper, a world-renowned conductor, composer and pioneer of the community arts movement in the United States, grew up in a Vienna of extremes: From his birth in 1904 until he fled in 1939, the Austrian capital transformed from the heights of science and culture to the depths of economic depression and the onslaught of violent antisemitism and Nazi rule.

Roman Kent acknowledges the contribution of the “Righteous Gentiles” who put their own lives on the line in order to save Jews during the Holocaust.  Kent’s testimony is featured in Testimony – The Legacy of Schindler’s List and the USC Shoah Foundation.

Three different video clips from Roman Kent's tesitmony including life before, during and after the Holocaust.