Left unwatched, the 52,000 testimonies collected by USC Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and Education would be of no use to anyone. The men and women who shared their stories of loss and survival did so because they wanted the world to understand their experiences with genocide in ways that would be impossible with books.
It’s something Steven Spielberg understood when he established the USC Shoah Foundation in 1994. In fact, when he received the Academy Award that year for "Schindler’s List," he urged those watching, especially teachers, "Please listen to the words, the echoes and the ghosts, and please teach this in your schools."
This is why we’re so excited about our latest partnership with Comcast. Picking up on the tremendous success we had together in 2011, we are offering "Days of Remembrance: PastFORWARD," across multiple platforms, including Xfinity On Demand, through the Xfinity TV Go app and online to any internet user nationwide.
Every April for the next several years, we will present new programing based on our work. This year’s program will include some world premiere programming. It will also include things you may have seen before, but can gain new insights from by watching again. Some content could only be seen in selected universities and museums. But because of our partnership with Comcast, now you can watch them all in the time and place you feel is best.
In addition to "Schindler’s List" with a special introduction by Steven Spielberg, this year’s program includes the documentary "Voices from the List." We are also proud to include short features based on testimony from our Visual History Archive, as well as several full-length testimonies of people who were personally saved by Oskar Schindler.
I’ll be honest with you: Some of this will be difficult to watch, but the majority will be inspiring and informative. Each minute of the 30+ hours of programing offers important insight about the past and the future for you and your family. The selections are riveting, absorbing, and perhaps even life changing.