The Holocaust nearly obliterated the once-vibrant Jewish population of Lithuania. Learn about how a small band of prisoners made a daring escape so that they could bear witness and how modern researchers have found proof of this event.
Category Archives: A Matter of Life or Death
Sri Lankan Catholics mark 1 week since Easter Sunday attacks
Read about reactions to the Easter Bombings in Sri Lanka, and watch the video about effects this tragedy has had on the local Muslim community. In the midst of this tragedy, the country searches for ways to bring people together despite religious differences.
The Taliban Couldn’t Quash This Pakistani Squash Champ
Growing up in a dangerous region of Pakistan, Maria Toorpakai found a way to pursue her goals.
Holocaust jacket found at tag sale leads to a life story
One Holocaust survivor’s story is told after the jacket he wore at a concentration camp was found
Incredible: How One Couple Saved 50 Children from the Nazis
As tensions in Europe grew before the United States entered World War II, one well-off American couple decided to take action. Learn about the challenges and dangers they faced to rescue 50 Jewish children from the Nazis.
A moment on ‘Oprah’ made her a human rights symbol. She wants to be more than that.
Clemantine Wamariya talks about her memoir, The Girl Who Smiled Beads, in which she writes about her experiences as a refugee fleeing genocide in Rwanda and rebuilding a life in the United States.
How to Survive a Natural Disaster
In the midst of hurricane season, experts offer advice on how to survive natural disasters.
Fire Escapes Are Evocative, But Mostly Useless
Read about the history of fire escapes and whether their purpose was ever fulfilled.
How to make it as a female war correspondent
Journalists in war zones have one of the most dangerous—and compelling—of jobs. Learn about a pioneering woman who worked as a war correspondent from the dawn of World War II.
Stairwell A: The Only Way Out
After a terrorist-piloted plane crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, only one path to safety remained unblocked. Read stories of the survivors who escaped through Stairwell A.
Seat Belts: Get the Facts
It’s likely that when your grandparents were your age, they rode in a car without buckling a seat belt first. Find out how effective seat belts are at saving lives and why some people don’t use them, even today.
Who lives longest? CIA’s top 20 nations for life expectancy
Click through this photo gallery to learn where in the world people can expect to lead the longest lives.
How to Survive (Almost) Anything: 14 Survival Skills
According to Laurence Gonzales, making small changes in the way you approach everyday life will help you survive if disaster ever strikes. Read the article to find out his 14 survival skills.
Between Boredom and Terror: One U.S. Soldier’s Letters from Afghanistan
Letters home from soldiers reveal a mix of the mundane and the devastating. Learn about a book in which one soldier compiled letters documenting his unlikely military journey.
Health insurance can make a life or death difference, study says
The topic of health insurance may not seem very exciting, but it has a clear, documented impact on our lives.
A psychologist explains the limits of human compassion
Why do people sometimes seem to turn a blind eye to life-and-death calamities that affect hundreds, thousands, even millions of our fellow humans? It’s all in the numbers.
Ebola vaccine gives 100% protection, study finds
Only a few short years ago, the ebola virus devastated areas of West Africa and terrified the world. Thanks to diligent research, though, it no longer threatens lives.
Survivor of Stalin’s prison camps runs first museum that looks at history of Russia’s Gulags
Although it resulted in more loss of life than the Nazi concentration camps, the Soviet Gulag system is less well known. One survivor has spent his life working to change that.
Motherboard Knows Best: Should a Computer Make Life-or-Death Decisions?
It turns out that a computer running a mathematical formula can more accurately predict patients’ wishes than family members can. But should a computer be allowed to override a human in a life-or-death situation?
The Aleppo Project
Stay on top of the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Syria.