Videos by Topic
DonateGenocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda
Kizito Kalima on the importance of learning the lesson
Language: English
Rwandan Tutsi Genocide survivor Kizito Kalima shares his hope that people take action to prevent future genocides. He vows to do anything necessary to ensure the world is a safe, peaceful place.
Genocide: Live Wesige on Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda
Language: English
On April 6, 1994, an aircraft carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana was shot down by a surface-to-air missile as it was about to land in Kigali airport. Everyone aboard the plane was killed: Habyarimana; president of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira; and a three-man French crew. While it remains unclear who fired the missile, the event is viewed as having ignited the 1994 Rwandan Tutsi Genocide.
Live Wesige remembers hearing the news about the president’s death and describes the violence that ensued in his neighborhood the next day, April 7, 1994.
Rose Burizihiza on the Beginning of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda
Language: Kinyarwanda
Rose Burizihiza describes how the Hutu leaders in her town met to plan how they would kill the local Tutsis.
Roméo Dallaire on the 1994 Rwandan Tutsi Genocide
Language: English
Roméo Dallaire describes how quickly violence escalated in Rwanda in 1994 and his disappointment in the lack of support from the international community.
Valerie Nyirarudodo on forgiveness
Language: Kinyarwanda
Valerie Nyirarudodo says she has forgiven the perpetrators of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda who have asked for it, and encourages others to follow the same path.
Alphonse Kabalisa on anti-Tutsi propaganda
Language: Kinyarwanda
Alphonse Kabalisa recalls listening to anti-Tutsi propaganda on the radio with his father, after the death of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana. Alphonse’s testimony is featured in the IWitness activity, Information Quest: The Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda
Carl Wilkens on neighbors speaking up
Language: English
Carl Wilkens, an aid provider during the Rwandan Tutsi Genocide, describes the courageous acts of his neighbors.
Kizito Kalima on the importance of learning the lesson
Language: English
Rwandan Tutsi Genocide survivor Kizito Kalima shares his hope that people take action to prevent future genocides. He vows to do anything necessary to ensure the world is a safe, peaceful place.
Edith Umugiraneza on the Interahamwe Militia
Language: English
Rwandan Tutsi Genocide survivor Edith Umugiraneza describes her first contact with the Interahamwe militia, which was threatening violence against Tutsis.
Freddy Mutanguha on saying goodbye to his mother
Language: English
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A series of clips featuring survivors recalling the difficulties of voting before and during the war in Europe and how it impacted their appreciation of the importance of participating in the democratic process.
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A collection of Jewish survivors and other eyewitnesses to the Holocaust describe watching the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. In preparation for the start of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, the Nazis in power decided to minimize the presence of anti-Semitism in the city.
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USC Shoah Foundation presents 24 stories of genocide survivors who recall their experiences as refugees in their testimonies preserved in the Visual History Archive. Each clip of testimony to inspire, inform and shed light on the impact of war, genocide and massacre forcing individuals from their homes.
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A collection of testimony clips from WWII liberators who served in the United States Armed Forces.
Special thanks to Ford Motor Company for their support of our World War II Veterans and Liberators collections.
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From April to July 1994, one of the most brutal genocides in human history occurred in Rwanda. It claimed the lives of 800,000 men, women, and children, most of whom were of Tutsi descent. Kwibuka, the official anniversary of the Rwandan Tutsi Genocide, is observed every year on April 7. Explore this selection of testimony clips of survivors and eyewitnesses to the genocide from the Visual History Archive.
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At the end of each interview the Institute recorded for the Archive, the interviewer would ask the interviewee if he or she had a special message for future generations watching the interview. The survivors and other witnesses often spoken about such themes as forgiveness, the importance of individual action, and the need to teach children tolerance. Here are a few messages from the Institute's Archive.
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Several people responded to active discrimination by helping the victims in different ways. This is a collection of clips highlighting testimony from survivors and aid givers themselves. One question that sometimes emerges in these clips is "what made you stand up to discrimination and racial intolerance?"
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A series of clips from survivors speaking about their experiences with personal as well as institutional forms of discrimination. These clips include testimonies from the European Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda collections.
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A collection of clips from the Institute Archive that focus on interviewees describing particular feelings and emotions they experienced, such as fear, gratitude, and attitudes about others.
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Possibly the most well-known example of these rescue operations involved individual British families agreeing to “host” children from Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic through a program known as Kindertransport. Through this program, organized by Sir Nicholas Winton, an estimated 10,000 refugee children, most of them Jewish, were housed in the United Kingdom during the war. These children were able to avoid ghettoization and camp experiences; in many cases, they were the only members of their families to survive the Holocaust.