Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on March 30, 2024

President Carol Folt honored Holocaust survivors and the Shoah Foundation Monday for its outstanding leadership in preserving the testimonies of the Holocaust during a private event at Town and Gown.

The Shoah Foundation is an institute based at USC with the mission of telling the stories of Holocaust survivors and witnesses through audio-visual testimonies. The Foundation celebrated its 30-year anniversary Monday.

President Folt opened up the afternoon with a speech highlighting the work done by the Shoah Foundation, the perseverance of the Holocaust survivors and the work that still needs to be done to stop the spread of anti-Semitism.

One survivor told me its my duty to speak on the 6 million and I say its our duty to ensure your voices are heard by 6 billion, Folt said.

Folt also acknowledged the rise in American antisemitism after the Hamas attacks on Israel last fall.

We all know antisemitism is on the rise and frighteningly so, and we feel the searing pain of October 7 and we must fight antisemitism with everything, Folt said. The survivors testimonies are the best way to educate those up somewhat ignorant about the Holocaust view as the mission to preserve and protect these eyewitness accounts in perpetuity.

Celina Biniaz, a Holocaust survivor and recipient of the University Medallion, echoed Folts concerns about rising hate.

Today were living in a world shaken by tremendous divisions and horrible violence. We are seeing a frightening return of the same kind of antisemitism I experienced both before and after the war in Europe, Biniaz said. We must never give in to the corrosive power of hatred, and we must always remember the power each individual has to transform the lives of others.

Biniaz, a Jewish person who was saved because her family and her name were added to a list of workers who were to be protected from the Nazis, thanked Steven Spielberg and the Shoah Foundation for allowing her to speak her voice.

After Folts speech, Spielberg, an Oscar-winning USC alumnus and the founder of the Shoah Foundation, came forward to deliver his remarks. Spielberg, who grew up in a Jewish family, recounted how his grandmother taught English to Hungarian Holocaust survivors and said that he was taught to read numbers that were tattooed on survivors arms.

Spielberg also addressed the Israel-Hamas conflict and mentioned how the Shoah Foundation is more important than ever before.

We can rage against the heinous acts committed by the terrorists of October 7 and also decry the killing of innocent women and children in Gaza, Spielberg said. This makes us a unique force for good in the world and is why we are here today to celebrate the work of the Shoah Foundation, which is more crucial now.

Only given three other times in history, the prestigious University Medallion medal was received on stage by Spielberg, Biniaz and Joel Citron, a Shoah Foundation board member. Other Holocaust survivors were in attendance as well.

The afternoon also included a musical performance of the prayer Ani Maamin by Hebrew Union College student Leslie Goldberg. A Zoom Q&A session with student athlete Rae Anne Serville and Holocaust survivor Shaul Ladany followed the performance.

I think the event was beautifully done, said Carol Stulberg, a former interviewer and director of development for the Shoah Foundation who is currently a consultant for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It was a long time coming, and every single survivor who has given their testimony, and even those who havent, deserve the accolades and the recognition for their bravery and their survivorship.

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Carol Folt awards prestigious University Medallion to Holocaust survivors - uscannenbergmedia.com

Category: Holocaust
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