SPIELBERG’S SHOAH FOUNDATION TO DOCUMENT OTHER ATROCITIES
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
April 24, 2007 Tuesday 7:59 PM EST
DPA x World Wars Society US Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation to document
other atrocities Los Angeles Director Steven Spielberg’s Shoah
Foundation is to expand beyond a focus on the Holocaust to document
survivor memories from more recent atrocities, USA Today reported
Tuesday.
Until now, the foundation started by Spielberg has focused on
recording the statements of Holocaust survivors and has collected
more than 52,000 interviews. The foundation will continue to record
those oral histories, but will also turn its attention to recording
eye-witness reports of genocide in Rwanda and Cambodia, as well as
stories of life under apartheid in South Africa.
"The obligation to remember is a moral responsibility that all of us
owe to all of those who have suffered violence and racism in the modern
world, whether they are Jew or Armenians or Cambodians or Rwandans
or Darfuris," said Douglas Greenberg, executive director of the Shoah
Foundation Institute at the University of Southern California.
Spielberg said the organization was dedicated to applying the mantra
"never forget" to more recent acts of genocide and oppression.
"Now we ask ourselves: How do we make this vision a priority in
communities all across the world?" Spielberg said.
Spielberg created the foundation after finishing his Oscar-winning
film Schindler’s List nearly 14 years ago, saying he was overwhelmed
by the personal stories he heard from Holocaust survivors after the
movie came out.