spielbrg  52141   960915 Holocaust survivors videotaping project
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           Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation
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                                                  A JewishGen Info File

The visual history project, founded by Steven Spielberg, began in Los
Angeles in June 1994. His goal is to collect and process 50,000
testimonies by the end of the 1997, and have an on-line, multimedia
database of close to 150,000 interview by 2004.

Plans call for the production of documentaries, books and CD-ROM
applications for schools, in which students will virtually walk through
a concentration camp barrack, see different faces and click on a face to
hear that persons story.

The current number of survivors in the world is estimated at between
250,000 and 350,000, through Ari Zev, the projects research director,
now believes that the number may be as high as 400,000.

In addition, Spielberg said he wanted to interview Righteous Gentiles
who hid or rescued Jews, and Allied soldiers who took part in the
liberation of the camps, in order to see the Holocaust from every single
perspective, he said.

With an annual budget of $20 million, the project requires heavy
financing. Spielberg himself contributed $3 million in seed money. Thanks
to such contributors as MCA/Universal, NBC, the (Lew) Wasserman
Foundation and Time/Warner, $23 million has been raised. Checks have
also come from less affluent donors, such as the $33 sent in by an
elementary school class.

Anne Marle Stein, public relations director for the foundation, said
project leaders want to hear from as many survivors as possible. In the
United States and Canada, the toll-free number is (800) 661-2092. From
other countries, phone (818) 777-4673. The mailing address is P.O. Box
3168, Los Angeles, Calif. 90078-3168.

For additional information, url to:
http://www.vhf.org

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