The representatives of “Shoah” Foundation of the University of Southern California are in Armenia. On April 20 they met the representatives of Yerevan State University and Institute for Armenian Studies. The foundation preserves written testimonies and documentations, as well as the interviews with the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and Holocaust. In the frames of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide the Institute of visual History and Education of “Shoah” Foundation is ready to represent 400 video testimonies to the Armenians and generally to inform the society about the events that took place in 1915.  

Director of Research and Documentation of “Shoah” Foundation, Karen Jungblut, thanked for the invitation and offer for cooperation, represented the web-site of the foundation, then spoke about the activities of the foundation and collection of testimonies. There are many interviews with not only the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, but also with Greeks, Assyrians and Yezidies who also suffered from the massacres of Ottoman Turks. There are also interviews with the eye-witnesses of atrocities, such as, Christian preachers and Arab residents, as well as with the heirs of survivors and scholars. There are  many testimonies of the Armenians about the Armenian Genocide that were shot by J. Michael Hagopian and the Armenian Film Foundation in 1972-2004. 

J. Michael Hagopian is the director of 70 documentaries and educational films as well as 17 films about the Armenians and Armenian Genocide. The perspectives of further cooperation were discussed at the meeting. The necessity of conducting research and cooperation with the Armenian partners on the basis of the stories of eye-witnesses combined with the archival documents was highlighted. 

Then the Diretor of Shapell-Guerin Chair in Jewish Studies and of Professor of History of the University of Southern California, Wolf Gruner, represented the aims of their activities. Being  specialized in the field of  Comparative Genocide Studies, he is engaged in “Shoah foundation”. His research specialties touch upon the History of the Holocaust and other genocides, comparative history of mass violence, racial  discrimination against population. 

The representatives of the Foundation expressed readiness to work with the Armenian historians and genocide scholars, as well as to exchange experience in further activities. The perspectives of cooperation between Yerevan State University and the University of Southern California were also discussed at the meeting.