March 1, 2010
UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM’S GROUNDBREAKING ENCYCLOPEDIA DOCUMENTING THE SCOPE OF THE NAZI CAMP AND GHETTO UNIVERSE WINS ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES AWARD
Museum Project Marks First Effort to Catalogue all Nazi Camps and Ghettos
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945 was awarded the 2009 Judaica Reference Award, presented yearly by the Association of Jewish Libraries. The first of a projected seven volumes, it covers the early concentration camps that the Nazi regime established during its first months in power as well as the SS concentration camp system that evolved from those early sites, the volume was edited by the Museum’s Applied Research Scholar Geoffrey Megargee and published in June 2009 by Indiana University Press in association with the Museum. In January 2010, the work was awarded a 2009 National Jewish Book Award. It was also named a 2010 Outstanding Academic Title by Choice magazine.
When complete, the project will provide the first comprehensive survey of all known Nazi camps and ghettos. Museum researchers have identified more than 20,000 such sites, several times more than anticipated at the project’s outset.
“We are grateful that this project continues to be recognized as an important contribution to Holocaust scholarship,” says Megargee. “By making it accessible in libraries throughout the United States and around the world, historians and the pubic will gain a much fuller understanding of the immense size and scope of the Nazi concentration camp universe.”
Volume one, with a foreword by Nobel laureate and Museum Founding Chairman Elie Wiesel, comprises two books and totals over 1,700 pages, with 192 photographs and 23 maps, and provides details on more than 1,000 camps. The subsequent volumes are scheduled to be released through 2018. More information is available on the Museum’s Web site, where the book can also be purchased, at www.ushmm.org/research/center/encyclopedia. Information about the award and the Association of Jewish Libraries can be found at www.jewishlibraries.org.
A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires citizens and leaders worldwide to promote human dignity, confront hatred and prevent genocide. 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 the generosity of donors nationwide.
