Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy

The UNO Criss Library maintains the Sam Fried Digital Archive. Sam Fried, Holocaust survivor and entrepreneur, was born in Czechoslovakia. He moved to Omaha and made a life for himself and his wife Magda, despite the barriers of language and culture facing new immigrants. Starting in the 1970s, the Frieds spoke about their experiences as Holocaust survivors in the wake of rising neo-Nazi activity. The Frieds were regular speakers at schools, colleges, and community events, educating listeners about the Holocaust. After the passing of Magda Fried, Sam Fried married Frances and they continued their work in community service and Holocaust education.

Sam Fried compiled detailed scrapbooks about their lives and work, which were donated to Archives and Special Collections after his death. The scrapbooks include letters, cards, photographs, and documents that share their stories as Holocaust survivors, new immigrants, popular speakers, and community activists. The scrapbooks are digitized and available online in their entirety from UNO Libraries Digital Collections database.

Digitization of Sam Fried’s scrapbooks was made possible with funding support from UNO’s Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy.

Collection: Sam Fried Papers | Nebraska Archives Online These eleven volumes were compiled by Holocaust survivor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Sam Fried in 2013. Through thousands of pages of documents including letters, speeches, photographs, and other material, Fried shared the story of his life with his wife and fellow Holocaust survivor Magda Fri...

Call for Papers!

The Journal of History is publishing an upcoming special issue on “Historical Testimony and the Arts.”

The editorial board is seeking contributions from scholars who critically engage in the use of historical testimony in various artistic and educational initiatives, and from scholars from a broad range of disciplines who examine how historical testimony can be used to both represent and understand the past.

Submissions will be accepted until December 4, 2026!

Read the full call for papers and submit your research here: https://bit.ly/4c3zIqw

As one of the founding members of the Consortium of Higher Education Centers for Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Studies, the Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy was pleased to be part of the 4th biennial members meeting held at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. The three day program was an enriching experience and we are grateful to Dr. Jamie Wraight, Director of the Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive, for welcoming and hosting directors from across the country. Official photos are below.

The Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy is pleased to share this special issue call for papers for the Journal of History (Journals - University of Toronto Press) on "Historical Testimony and the Arts." Submission Deadline: December 4, 2026.

In this special issue we seek contributions from scholars who critically engage in the use of historical testimony in various artistic and educational initiatives. From comics and graphic novels, such as Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Keum Suk Gendry-Kim’s Grass, and Tardi’s I, René Tardi, Prisoner Of War In Stalag IIB, to works of virtual reality, such as the short films The Last Goodbye, War Remains and Nobody’s Listening: The Forgotten Voices of Sinjar, to holograms such as USC’s Dimensions in Testimony, firsthand accounts concerning war, genocide and other mass atrocities are frequently being employed in various forms of representation. In an era of the “moral witness” (Carolyn Dean), historical testimony has influenced artistic and pedagogical approaches to episodes of mass violence.

This special issue asks for contributions from scholars from a broad range of disciplines who examine how historical testimony can be used to both represent and understand the past. What are the uses of testimony for researchers, artists and audiences? What are the limits of those forms of representation in their use of these accounts? How can art and other forms of representation challenge our understanding of history? What do visual mediums offer to scholars, both in terms of their own research as well as their teaching of the past in the classroom? Is testimony for teaching about the past, showing students how to listen, to impart empathy, to train potential upstanders, and/or to fight bigotry? These questions and more will be considered in this special issue, which will be co-edited by Dr. Charlotte Schallié, Professor of Germanic Studies at the University of Victoria, and Dr. Mark Celinscak, Louis and Frances Blumkin Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

For inquiries related to this special issue please email: [email protected]

For additional details: https://utppublishing.com/journals/jh/special-issue-call-for-papers

Yale MacMillan Center Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies Survivor-Centred Visual Narratives

The Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy is so happy to see Ellie Sanford's career as a teacher blossom at Buena Vista High School. Ellie received a minor at University of Nebraska at Omaha in Holocaust and Genocide studies, and in 2025, attended the Fried Academy's inaugural Holocaust and Genocide Studies Teacher Workshop. We congratulate Ellie on her success!

Incoming: Your Favorite History Teacher A new crop of teachers is entering Omaha metro’s public schools, including Ellie Sanford who uses her passion for history and civics to connect with her students.

We are pleased to share some official photographs from our conference at Yale University last month.

In addition, the Yale MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies also published this overview of the conference: https://macmillan.yale.edu/stories/genocide-studies-program-hosts-what-testimony-symposium