The Museum honors as survivors any persons, Jewish or non-Jewish, who were displaced, persecuted, or discriminated against due to the racial, religious, ethnic, social, and political policies of the Nazis and their collaborators between 1933 and 1945. In addition to former inmates of concentration camps, ghettos, and prisons, this definition includes, among others, people who were refugees or were in hiding.
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In 1981, the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors established a national registry to document the lives of survivors who came to the United States after World War II. In April 1993 the Registry was transferred to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Although most of the survivors who have registered live in North America, the Museum includes the names of survivors from all backgrounds living all over the world. The Registry now includes over 196,000 records related to survivors and their families.
The Registry seeks the names of all Holocaust survivors—whether or not currently living—in order to assist survivors and their families in attempts to trace missing relatives and friends, as well as to provide help to historical and genealogical researchers. Inclusion in the Registry is voluntary and assures that the names of survivors will be preserved for historical memory and record.
The Benjamin and Vladka Meed Registry of Holocaust Survivors is located on the second floor of the Museum, where user-friendly touch-screen monitors allow visitors access to the database. The Registry is open to the public from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., Monday to Friday and by appointment on weekends. The Registry is closed on Federal holidays.
The Survivors Registry:
To mail your registration form or to request other information, you can contact the Survivors Registry at:
Registry of Holocaust Survivors
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW
Washington, DC 20024-2126
E-mail: registry@ushmm.org
Tel.: (202) 488-6130
Fax: (202) 314-7820
Behind Every Name A Story
The Museum’s Registry of Holocaust Survivors seeks survivors to participate in the Behind Every Name A Story (BENAS) web project.
Project guidelines »
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“Life After the Holocaust”
An oral history project documenting the life experiences of six Holocaust survivors from the end of World War II to the present time.
Explore the survivors’ experiences »
Tribute to Holocaust Survivors
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In conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the voyage of the Exodus, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, in partnership with “Exodus 1947,” an Israeli project, is seeking to locate and find the 4,500 passengers who were on this ship. To date close to 1,000 have been located in Israel and we are determined to find the rest.
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USHMM Catalog of Audio and Video Holocaust Testimonies
This catalog provides a tool for all those interested in the location of Holocaust oral history collections worldwide. Over 125 entities are listed in the catalog, ranging from major institutions to local community organizations.
Search the catalog »
The Museum mourns the passing of Benjamin Meed, Holocaust survivor, leader of the survivor community and a founding father of the Museum.
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