Archives

Overview

The Archives Branch of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive repositories of Holocaust-related records. The collection, which consists of nearly 42 million pages of records, includes the following:

• Microform reproductions of materials held by state and private archival institutions in virtually every European country, including the countries of the former Soviet Union occupied by the German armed forces, as well as materials from the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Israel, Australia, China, Japan, Cuba, and the United States
• Personal papers, memoirs, and testimonies of Holocaust survivors, victims, liberators, historians, artists, and staff of the International Military Tribunal
• Video and audio tapes of oral histories
• Film and video of historical moving images
• Photographs
• Recorded sound and music

The topics covered by the archival collections include:

• Anti-Jewish policy in Nazi Germany and Austria, including the despoliation of Jewish property
• Refugees
• Nazi occupation policies and conditions in occupied Europe
• The creation and administration of ghettos
• The deportations and mass executions of Jews and other targeted groups
• The treatment of Jews and other targeted groups in countries allied with Nazi Germany
• The construction and administration of concentration camps
• Resistance activities
• War crimes trials and trial evidence
• Restitution

Online Catalogs

• Library and Archival Collections (including oral history, art and artifacts)
  A combined catalog of the Library’s published materials (books, serials, historical newspapers, feature films and documentaries, CDs, DVDs, and other media), and the Archives unpublished materials (collections on paper or microform, personal artifacts, video and audio tapes, artwork and three-dimensional objects.)
• Archival Guide to the Collections
  A general overview of the collections of textual records available in the Museum’s Archives.
• Archival Finding Aids
  Detailed inventories and finding aids that have been produced for selected collections in the Museum’s Archives.
• Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive
  This catalog provides access to the Museum’s comprehensive collection of historical films documenting the Holocaust and World War II. Locate film clips and shot descriptions of over 1000 hours of footage.
• American Friends Service Committee Collection
  Search the Guide to Names from the American Friends Service Committee Collection and find copies of the original documents.
• Holocaust Name Lists Catalog
  A database of lists of Holocaust-related names searchable by place of persecution not by individual.
• International Tracing Service Inventory
  Contains an overview of the 21,000 historical collections of documentary materials contained within the archive of the International Tracing Service.

Hours and Location »

Appointments and Researcher Registration

Appointments prior to visiting the Archives are not required, but they are strongly encouraged. Some materials are stored off site and at least one week advanced notice must be given to use them. In order to examine archival collections, researchers are required to fill out a Research Application form and sign the Rules Governing Conduct of Visitors to the USHMM Archive. Valid photo identification, which includes the researcher’s current address (e.g. a passport or driver’s license) is required.

Fees for Reproduction »

Donations »