USC Shoah Foundation commemorates 110th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
LOS ANGELES—The USC Shoah Foundation (USCSF), an organization committed to preserving survivor testimonies, advancing understanding of the Holocaust and building a future that rejects antisemitism, hatred, dehumanization and genocide, will commemorate the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2025.
This year’s Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on April 24th will mark the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Beginning in 1915, during the First World War, the Ottoman Empire, under control of the leadership of the Young Turks, systematically deported and murdered over a million Armenians living in the empire. This tragic chapter in history is observed globally, but the significance and impact of the Armenian Genocide are not confined to one day. The USC Shoah Foundation is dedicated to honoring the memory and history of the Armenian Genocide throughout the year, with events, educational resources and initiatives aimed at preserving the legacy of survivors and preventing future atrocities.
“Denial and distortion of the history of the Armenian Genocide, its victims and the few survivors continues through today,” said Dr. Robert J. Williams, CEO and Finci-Viterbi Chair of the USC Shoah Foundation and UNESCO Chair on Antisemitism and Holocaust Research. “And yet, this historical event continues to pull at us, to drive us to understand why it happened, and what we might have done to prevent it. Now, 110 years since the genocide, we must speak up even more to honor the victims of the Armenian Genocide and to listen to the voices of the survivors through their testimonies and the histories they shared with their descendants.”
The USC Shoah Foundation, working with the USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies, a hub of research and learning that studies the contemporary Armenian diaspora and Republic of Armenia at USC, has recently collected three interviews with descendants and scholars of the Armenian Genocide to add to its collection of interactive biographies (Dimensions in Testimony). This unique set of interactive biographies furthers the goals of the Keep The Promise Armenian Genocide Education program, to humanize and contextualize the history of the Armenian Genocide as well as promote knowledge and understanding of the Armenian culture and preservation efforts in the Armenian diaspora. These interviews will be available on the USC Shoah Foundation’s educational platform, IWitness, beginning in fall 2025.
“By teaching and learning with testimony on IWitness, students are able to discover the universal parallels that exist across genocides and understand the profound human impact of these events,” said Dr. Sedda Antekelian, Senior Learning and Development Specialist at the USC Shoah Foundation. “This resource empowers students to engage in meaningful conversations that can help prevent the escalation of hate and violence in our world.”
As part of its year-round commitment to Armenian Genocide education and during this Genocide Awareness Month, the USC Shoah Foundation will
- April 10, host a webinar “Honoring Memory and History of the Armenian Genocide,” which invites high school and university educators to watch audiovisual testimony of Armenian survivor, Haig Baronian;
- April 12, host an in-person professional development workshop at the Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument in Montebello, California for middle and high school educators, along with an online follow-up online webinar on April 15. This opportunity invites educators to engage with the USC Shoah Foundation’s testimony-based walking tour “The Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument: Community, Memorialization and Commemoration,” available on the USC Shoah Foundation’s IWalk Mobile Application, and to navigate the digital functions available on the platform. The event will also feature a special appearance by Jack Hadjinian, former mayor of Montebello, at the on-site IWalk event;
- Feature the new testimony-based virtual walking tour, “Exploring the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex,” in English and Eastern Armenian language on its IWalk Mobile Application. This tour, which combines testimony with site-based information, was developed in partnership with the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan, Armenia.
Through these efforts, the USC Shoah Foundation ensures that the lessons of the Armenian Genocide, and all genocides, are passed on, so that future generations are equipped with knowledge and resources that help them to address issues related to denial and distortion of historical truths, to confront hatred and to prevent future atrocities.
About the USC Shoah Foundation
The mission of the USC Shoah Foundation is to collect, preserve and share survivor testimonies in order to increase knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust and to build a future for all that rejects antisemitism, hatred, dehumanization and genocide. With offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., the USC Shoah Foundation provides innovative educational, research and outreach opportunities, and key learning resources for the world. The testimony archive is home to more than 61,000 testimonies of survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust, contemporary antisemitism, the Armenian Genocide and other historical events of genocide. It is the largest such collection in the world.
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