LibGuides: Primary Sources: The Holocaust: General Information

Online Sources: General Sources - The Holocaust

Artifacts from the Holocaust and Nazi Germany (University of Arizona) Various items related to the history of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust were given over the years to the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University, in most cases anonymously. Many of the objects were found in a box in the Institute's storage room in the fall of 2012 by the then new director Dr. Krondorfer. This box had been given to the Institute years earlier by a young man from a trading post in northern Arizona, but provenance can no longer be traced and established. The collection sheds light on select aspects of life in Germany before, during, and after the Nazi dictatorship. It includes everyday items like currency and chinaware, items that speak to the life under the conditions of World War II, and objects related to Nazi propaganda and the genocide against European Jews (like the official stamp of the camp commander of the concentration camp of Gross-Rosen). It also includes items related directly to the Holocaust, such as the money printed by the Jewish Council in the ghetto of Litzmannstadt/Lodz in Poland. Finally, it includes two items that at first sight seem to relate to Nazi Germany because of the display of swastikas; these items, however, were Native American objects used as "good luck symbols" in the United States before the 1940s.
Center for Jewish History Digital Collections
Centropa
DigiBaeck - Leo Baeck Institute Archives
Documenting Wallenberg: An Archive of Testimonials (International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation) July 2, 2007. New York, NY. – Kayla Kaufman was only 9 years old in 1944 in Hungary. But she still remembers the look on her father’s face the Friday night when her family was safely reunited with the help of Swedish Diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. ”…I’ve seen so many movies and so many TV shows, I have never seen a human being cry that hard ever and my father finished the Sabbath Kiddush and we went over and hugged and kissed. And this was Raoul Wallenberg. He saved six of us, and today there are 159 lives because of him.” Kaufman told her story as part of The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation’s (IRWF) ”Documenting Wallenberg”, a new project aimed at documenting the stories of those who were saved by, worked with or knew Raoul Wallenberg during the Holocaust. A Swedish-born diplomat, Raoul Wallenberg traveled to Hungary in June 1944, where he saved more than 100,000 Jews. He issued false Swedish documents, called Schutz-pass, created safe houses and collaborated with others to save lives. In January 1945, Wallenberg was abducted and imprisoned by the Soviets, and was never seen again. To this day, his whereabouts and fate are unknown.
EHRI Portal
EuroDocs: Shoah (Holocaust) Shoah (Holocaust) document history of the Holocaust.
EuroDocs: Shoah (Holocaust) Shoah (Holocaust) document history of the Holocaust.
Frank Blaichman: Ethics in a Time of Genocide
German Historical Institute
German History in Documents & Images - Nazi Germany
German Propaganda Archive
Ghetto Fighters' House Museum The Ghetto Fighters' House archive continues its collection of archival materials: artifacts, photographs and documents from the years preceding World War II, from the war period, as well as from the first years after the liberation.
The Ghetto Fighters' House – Itzhak Katzenelson Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum
History Unfolded
Holocaust Denial on Trial This website, Holocaust Denial on Trial, was created by Professor Deborah E. Lipstadt and colleagues and is a joint project of Emory University and Emory’s Tam Institute for Jewish Studies. Its mission is to ensure perpetual access to the evidence, transcripts, judgment, and appeal documents that made the case in the David Irving v. Penguin Books U.K. and Deborah Lipstadt trial and to refute the misleading claims of Holocaust deniers with historical evidence. Alongside these goals, hdot.org strives to educate the public about the threat Holocaust denial poses to history, society, law, and identity. By attempting to force the courts into complicity with his antisemitic, racist worldview, David Irving sought the ultimate legal credential for his hate. Therefore, we present this collection of primary documents and educational materials as aids to students, teachers, journalists, politicians, and the general public to demonstrate power of truth over deception and history over hate.
Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team (HEART) It was once said that not remembering the Holocaust means to side with the executioners against its victims; not to remember means to kill the victims a second time; not to remember means to become an accomplice of the enemy. On the other hand, to remember means to feel compassion for the victims of all persecutions. By solemnly commemorating the tragedy of the Holocaust, we will keep history in mind, never forget the past, cherish all lives, and create a better future. Millions of souls were lost during the years of Nazi tyranny, and their passing has made the world a poorer place. Many say "Never Again" while shrugging off the memory of the starving, the sick, and the dead. Those images in black and white that have somehow made it all seem so distant, almost surreal, and suggestive of some fantasy rather than harsh reality. Some have even questioned if any of it ever even happened at all. But the Holocaust did happen, and this is one reality that cannot be denied. We seek to bring that reality to the forefront of the minds of all who seek the truth. So they too can commemorate the victims. So they too can learn to recognize tyranny. So they too can build a future where such atrocities are not everyday occurrences, but exist only as a historical record on sites like this one. - H.E.A.R.T
Holocaust Rescue and Relief: Digitized Records of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (Harvard University) In 1939, the Rev. Waitstill Sharp, a Unitarian minister in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and his wife, Martha, a social worker, agreed to travel to Prague to investigate reports of a humanitarian crisis. From these humble but brave beginnings, the Unitarian Service Committee was born. During and after World War II, the Service Committee aided hundreds of displaced persons in Europe. They established food and clothing distribution centers, hospitals, and homes for children. They also aided hundreds of people in their efforts to leave war-torn Europe and establish new lives for themselves in the United States. The Andover-Harvard Theological Library is the official archive for the records of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC). In a project jointly funded by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine in Paris, the library completed a massive digitization project of roughly 257 boxes of archival UUSC material dating from 1939 to 1967. In total, about 238,000 documents and 3,100 photographs were scanned. Digitizing this material has helped to preserve it for future generations, and has made it available to researchers throughout the world. To read more about this digitization project, see the Harvard Gazette. To view the digital folders, click on the collection name, read the Scope and Content note, go to the Container List, and browse the folders that have been digitized. Click on the "See digital images" link to open a folder. Once you are in a folder, use the red forward and back arrows to view the contents. Image size may be adjusted as well.
Holocaust Resource Center (Yad VaShem) The Holocaust Resource Center provides access to a variety of resources exploring the history of the Holocaust, major events that occurred during the Holocaust, Frequently Asked Questions and video testimonies from those who survived.
The Holocaust Wing (Jewish Virtual Library) The Holocaust (HaShoah, in Hebrew) refers to the systematic murder of more than six million Jews orchestrated by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist (Nazi) Party in Europe during World War II.
International Research Portal for Records Related to Nazi-Era Cultural Property (U.S. National Archives and various international organizations) Links researchers to archival materials consisting of descriptions and often images of records related to cultural property that was stolen, looted, seized, forcibly sold, or otherwise lost during the Nazi era. Covers a broad range of cultural property from artworks to books and libraries, religious objects, antiquities, archival documents, carvings, silver and more.
Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation Approximately 30,000 Jews throughout Eastern and Western Europe - many of them teens - fought back during the Holocaust as Jewish partisans.
Jewish Virtual Library
Museum of Jewish Heritage
Nizkor Project
Remember.org: A People's History of the Holocaust and Genocide Holocaust history and stories from Holocaust Photos, Survivors, Liberators, Books and Art
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Sonia Orbuch: Becoming a Partisan
A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust
Trial of Adolf Eichmann (The Nizkor Project) The files constitute the first six volumes of the printed work. Volumes VII and VIII, the Facsimile of Eichmann’s statement in German to the Israeli Police, and Volume IX, Microfiche copies of the documents submitted at the trial, are not included within the Nizkor collection. Nizkor would like to thank The Trust for the Publication of the Proceedings of the Eichmann Trial for granting permission to place these files on the Internet, and acknowledge the co-operation of Rubin Mass Ltd. in obtaining them.
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum: Online Exhibitions A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Federal support guarantees the Museum’s permanent place on the National Mall, and its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by generous donors. Located among our national monuments to freedom on the National Mall, the Museum provides a powerful lesson in the fragility of freedom, the myth of progress, and the need for vigilance in preserving democratic values. With unique power and authenticity, the Museum teaches millions of people each year about the dangers of unchecked hatred and the need to prevent genocide. And we encourage them to act, cultivating a sense of moral responsibility among our citizens so that they will respond to the monumental challenges that confront our world.
United States Holocaust Museum
United States Holocaust Museum Encyclopedia
Virginia Holocaust Museum
The Wiener Holocaust Library Digital Resources
Wiener Library: Digital Resources The Wiener Holocaust Library traces its roots back to Germany in the 1920s. Dr Alfred Wiener, a German Jew, having fought in WWI, returned to Germany in 1919 and was horrified at the surge of right-wing antisemitism, which blamed Jews for the defeat. Dr Wiener worked with the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith to combat antisemitism, writing, lobbying and speaking publicly. From 1925 (the year Hitler published Mein Kampf) he perceived a greater threat from the Nazi Party than any other antisemitic group or party. Under his influence an archive was started just to collect information about the Nazis, which formed the basis of campaigns to undermine their activities. Dr Wiener and his family fled Germany in 1933 and settled in Amsterdam. Dr Wiener's first archive is believed to have been destroyed. Later that year he set up the Jewish Central Information Office at the request of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Anglo-Jewish Association. The JCIO essentially continued the work of the earlier archive.
World Memory Project
Yad Vashem - The World Holocaust Remembrance Center