Women and the Holocaust: Courage and Compassion

United Nations, USC Shoah Foundation Institute, and Yad Vashem to release new educational resource

On January 27, the International Day of Commemoration to honor the victims of the Holocaust, the Holocaust and the United Nations Programme, in partnership with the USC Shoah Foundation Institute and the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, will release a study guide and DVD to help high school students better understand how the Holocaust affected women.

Women and the Holocaust: Courage and Compassion study guide and DVD focus on the experiences of women who heroically struggled to care for their families, maintain a sense of community, and preserve religious traditions in the face of Nazi persecution. The DVD features the testimonies of six women survivors: Esther Bem, Anna Heilman, Agnes Kun, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, Julia Lentini, and Vladka Meed, whose life stories are preserved in the USC Shoah Foundation Institute’s Visual History Archive.

“The memories these survivors have shared with us are an undying testament not only to their own courage, but also to the power and potential of all women,” Stephen D. Smith, Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute, said.

CLICK HERE to access an online version of the study guide and DVD.