Holocaust (Audio)

What paradoxes arise when victims of related persecution tell their stories next to, and after, each other? This question is at the heart of Ari Joskowicz’s highly acclaimed book “Rain of Ash,” which examines the unlikely entanglement of the histories of Jews and Romani people—the only two racialized groups the Nazis targeted for wholesale extermination. Joskowicz, professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University, explores the encounters between Jews and Romani people on the killing fields of Europe and seeks to understand how survivors and historians have discussed Romani and Jewish suffering during World War II in relational terms. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40533]

John A. Pérez, Regent Emeritus of the University of California, sits down with Robert Williams, Ph.D., CEO and Finci-Viterbi Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation, for a critical conversation about the rise of antisemitism on college campuses. They explore how history shapes present-day challenges, the dangers of misinformation, and the role of higher education in confronting hate. Drawing on lessons from the Holocaust and other historical atrocities, they discuss the urgent need for courage and action to combat antisemitism. Series: "Education Channel" [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 40249]

In the early 20th century, Budapest was the second-largest Jewish city in Europe, and Jewish artists and intellectuals played a major role in the city’s cosmopolitan cultural life. Among them was theater and cinema director and producer Béla Pásztor, whose career was marked by early success and later oppression. In a conversation with UC San Diego history professor Deborah Hertz, Béla’s son, Rafael Pastor, explores his family’s history before, during, and after the Nazi occupation of Hungary, including his parents’ emigration to Israel, where he was born. In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the deportations and annihilations of Hungarian Jews in 1944, which Béla survived in hiding, the conversation is preceded by a brief historical overview and survivor testimonies of this harrowing—and unforgettable—tragedy. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40227]

What does it take to survive persecution and exile? The story of Greta Taussig and Rudy Gans offers answers to this tantalizing question. Born in Linz, Austria, Greta emigrated to London after the country’s incorporation into the Third Reich, eventually enduring the horrors of the Blitz. Rudy was able to make his way to Shanghai after imprisonment in the notorious Dachau concentration camp. Along their arduous journey, each experienced the life-saving kindness of courageous strangers. As part of the UC San Diego Holocaust Living History Workshop, their son, Bob Gans, shares their thought-provoking story, supplemented by a display of artifacts and original documents. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 39008]

On December 19, 1980, Shlomo Lewin, the former chairman of the Jewish community in Nuremberg, and his partner Frida Poeschke were shot dead in their house in Erlangen. Instead of pursuing the leads that led to the right-wing extremist group Wehrsportgruppe Hoffmann, investigators concentrated on Lewin’s social environment for a long time. As part of UC San Diego's Holocaust Living History Workshop, German historian Uffa Jensen reconstructs the crime and its motivations, in the process unearthing a history of violence, trivialisation and repression that continues to this day. Jensen is a historian of modern history and serves as the deputy director at the Centre for Research on Antisemitism at the Technische Universität in Berlin. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 38976]