USC Shoah Foundation

On January 27, we mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, a date established by the United Nations in 2005 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This solemn occasion unites us in honoring the six million Jewish victims and millions of others murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. USC Shoah Foundation's Archive preserves survivors' first hand accounts of the Holocaust including the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, 1945. Their testimonies connect us directly to this historic moment, preserving first-hand experiences that continue to educate and inspire future generations. Marta Wise was just ten years old when Auschwitz was liberated. In her testimony she recounts a pivotal moment: Josef Mengele, the infamous Nazi physician, stood conducting his dreaded selections, dividing prisoners into two groups—those deemed fit for forced labor and those sentenced to the gas chambers. The selection process was suddenly interrupted by the roar of approaching Russian aircraft overhead. In the chaos that followed, all prisoners were hastily grouped together. Marta and her sister would endure transfers between several camps within the Auschwitz complex before finally experiencing liberation. To learn more and watch survivor testimony, visit: https://ow.ly/1Ozc50UMh4u #USCShoahFoundation #WitnessfortheFuture #InternationalHolocaustRemembranceDay

We remember Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the United States. Holocaust survivor Zahava Burack, a philanthropist and political activist in New York, remembers then-Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter’s warmth when she was seated next to him at a gala event in 1975. They discussed his support for Israel and his commitment to forging peace between Israel and Arab countries. Zahava went on to work on Jimmy Carter’s 1976 presidential campaign. She attended the White House dinner that followed the signing of the 1979 Camp David Accords, which established peace between Egypt and Israel. #USCShoahFoundation #WitnessfortheFuture

“He said, ‘you are the brightest star of them all.’ ” Armenian Genocide survivor Elise Taft was born in 1906 in Bandirma, Ottoman Empire (now Turkey). She and her family were targeted by the Ottoman government and forcibly displaced from their home. In her testimony, taken in 1984 by the Armenian Film Foundation, Elise Taft describes a moment between her and her father one night while on a forced march through Syria in 1916. We wish all of our Armenian friends and colleagues a Merry Christmas. May the holiday be as bright as the stars described by Elise in her testimony. #USCShoahFoundation #Witnessforthefuture

To mark our 30th anniversary year and launch into our fourth decade, we bring you #30for30, a curated series of remarkable clips from our core Holocaust Collection, the Armenian Genocide Testimony Collection, and our expanding Contemporary Antisemitism Collection. #26 Liora Eilon, October 7 Hamas Attack survivor. She shared her testimony with us in 2023. Liora was hosting her family for the holiday of Simchat Torah at her Kibbutz Kfar Aza home when the October 7 terrorist attacks began. Liora hid in her safe room with her two children and two grandchildren. Over the course of more than 30 hours in the safe room, terrorists broke into her home multiple times. She recalls with pride how her family collaborated to survive the hours until they were rescued by Israeli soldiers. Liora's son Tal, who was a member of the kibbutz's security team, was killed while protecting the kibbutz. #USCShoahFoundation #Witnessforthefuture

“I went to midnight mass…and I celebrated with them.” Clara Isaacman was born in Borșa, Romania and grew up in Antwerp, Belgium, where she attended Hebrew school and had both Christian and Jewish friends. In her testimony, recorded in 1997, she remembers exchanging gifts with her friends around the holidays and being curious about the celebration of Christmas. Germany occupied Belgium in May 1940, immediately instituting anti-Jewish restrictions. Clara’s brother was rounded up for forced labor and later killed in Auschwitz. In 1942, Clara and her family went into hiding with help from the Belgian resistance. After liberation, she met and married a Jewish American soldier and immigrated to the United States in 1946. To all who are celebrating tonight, we wish you a Happy Hanukkah and a Merry Christmas. #USCShoahFoundation #Witnessforthefuture

Tomorrow, Jews around the world will light the first Hanukkah candle to celebrate the ancient triumph of a small nation that stood up to powerful forces and reclaimed Jewish sovereignty and pride. Ralph Gottlob was born in 1926 in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. He recalls celebrating Hanukkah in 1938, just 6 weeks after Nazi-organized mobs assaulted Jews and destroyed Jewish property during the November Pogrom (Kristallnacht). During the attack, Ralph hid in his room while Nazis ransacked his family’s apartment and arrested his father and took him to Dachau concentration camp. Ralph’s father was released from Dachau and his family immigrated to the United States in 1940. Ralph served in the U.S. Army. Challenging, even tragic, moments are an undeniable part of Jewish history. But so too are moments of imagination, hope, and triumph. May the light of Hanukkah illuminate the coming days for you. #USCShoahFoundation #Witnessforthefuture

Annette Baslaw-Finger was 11 years old when her family fled the Nazi occupation of Paris. They went into hiding in villages and farms in the French countryside before eventually escaping on foot over the Pyrenees to Portugal and ultimately finding safety in the United States. In her testimony, recorded in 1995, Annette recalls hiding in a barn one winter night without a menorah to light to mark the start of Hanukkah. #USCShoahFoundation #Witnessforthefuture

We mourn the loss of Holocaust survivor Alice Masters, one of the 669 children saved by Sir Nicholas Winton by way of the Kindertransport. Alice passed away last month at the age of 99. Alice Eberstark was born in 1925 in Trstená, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia). In 1939, Germany annexed parts of Czechoslovakia and many Jews in her village were deported to the Hungarian border. Alice’s uncle arranged for Alice and her two sisters to be sent to Great Britain via the Kindertransport. The Kindertransport was an effort started in Great Britain in 1938 to rescue Jewish children from Germany and Austria. In March 1939 English stockbroker Sir Nicholas Winton expanded the effort, organizing eight transports to take children from Prague to London. In all, the Kindertransport rescued more than 10,000 children. Alice and her sisters arrived at a children’s home in the south of England in 1939. They corresponded with their parents until March 1942, when their parents and grandparents were deported to Majdanek concentration camp and killed. After the war, Alice went to secretarial college and worked for the Czech government-in-exile. In 1948, she received an appointment from the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. and immigrated to the United States, beginning a nearly 40-year career in administration. She married Jewish resistance fighter Peter Masters, had three children, and settled in Bethesda, Maryland. Alice was interviewed by the USC Shoah Foundation in 1996. She stayed in touch with many people she knew in the children’s home and became involved with the Kindertransport Association, speaking at schools. She met Sir Nicholas Winton at the 50th anniversary of the Kindertransport. May her memory be a blessing.

To mark our 30th anniversary year and launch into our fourth decade, we bring you #30for30, a curated series of remarkable clips from our core Holocaust Collection, the Armenian Genocide Testimony Collection, and our expanding Contemporary Antisemitism Collection. #25 Meet Renée Firestone, a Holocaust survivor, fashion industry pioneer, and dedicated supporter of Holocaust education and the USC Shoah Foundation. After sharing her own interview in 1994, Renée helped preserve the voices of over 200 fellow survivors as an institute interviewer. She recorded her story again in 2015 for our interactive biography initiative (Dimensions in Testimony). Renée Weinfeld was born in Uzhhorod (then Czechoslovakia, now Ukraine) in 1924. In 1938 the city became part of Nazi-influenced Hungary and her brother was sent to a forced labor camp. In 1944 Germany invaded Hungary, and Renée, her parents, and her younger sister Klara were deported to Auschwitz II-Birkenau, where Renée, 19, and Klara, 14, were separated from their parents. The sisters were at first housed together, and after Klara was sent to a different barrack they continued to meet daily at a designated spot. When Klara did not appear for three days straight, Renée knew her sister had been killed. In January 1945, Renée was among the 60,000 prisoners forced on a death march out of Auschwitz. She was sent to Liebau concentration camp, where she was liberated by Soviet Armed forces. After the war, Renée began searching for her family and in Budapest she found her brother, who had spent the war fighting with the partisans. Soon after, the siblings reunited with their father, who was being treated for tuberculosis in a Prague hospital. He died a few months later. Renée immigrated to the U.S. with her husband and their daughter, Klara, in 1948. She became a notable fashion designer, establishing herself as one of the leading designers of mid-twentieth century California fashion, a wave that is credited with fr

On December 13, 1937, the Japanese army captured what was then China’s capital city, Nanjing, and killed as many as 300,000 civilians and numerous unarmed Chinese soldiers over the course of two months. Our Archive is home to 102 testimonies from survivors of the Nanjing Massacre, interviews we recorded from 2012 to 2017 in partnership with the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall. Guixiang Chen was born in Nanjing, China in 1924. In her testimony, she recalls speaking to Japanese students about her experience, which she shared throughout her life. Guixiang Chen passed away in May at the age of 99.