There is no single list of victims and survivors of Nazi persecution. Instead of researching an individual’s story during the Holocaust is a process of following trails and piecing together bits of information.
Research on Individuals
The Museum offers a number of different resources for conducting research about victims and survivors of Nazi persecution. Use the following resources to start your research or get tips on how to conduct research.
Holocaust Survivors and Victims Names Database
What is it: Information from the Museum’s collections and partner organizations about individual survivors and victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution. How it is used: This database includes millions of personal records from the Museum’s extensive holdings that could assist in researching the fates of individuals during the Holocaust.
Available: Online and onsite at the Museum. Around 80 percent of the database is available online. To access the full database, visit the Museum. Visitors seeking on-site assistance with researching the fate of individuals during the Holocaust should email resource-center@ushmm.org before planning a research visit.
Benjamin and Vladka Meed Registry of Holocaust Survivors
What is it: A database including the names of survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi-era persecution–whether or not they are currently living.
How it is used: To record survivor experiences for future generations, assist survivors and their families in attempts to trace missing relatives and friends, and provide reference to scholars of the Holocaust, genealogists, and members of the public. For information about adding someone to the Registry, please see the Register a Survivor page.
Available: Onsite at the Museum. To access this database, visit the Museum. Visitors seeking on-site assistance with researching Holocaust survivors should email resource-center@ushmm.org before planning a research visit.
International Tracing Service Digital Archive
What is it: The archive contains more than 200 million digital images of documentation on millions of victims of Nazism—people arrested, deported, murdered, put to forced labor and slave labor, or displaced from their homes and unable to return at the end of the war.
How it is used: To assist families of survivors and victims seeking information and documentation for purposes of compensation or the benefit of future generations. Scholars, authors, genealogists, and other researchers may use the archive to conduct research at the Museum.
Available: Onsite at the Museum
On behalf of Holocaust survivors, their families and families of victims, Museum staff will search for documents in the records of the ITS Digital Archive and other archival collections of the Museum free of charge.
Tips for Conducting Research on Your Own
At the start of your research, it is helpful to know the town where your family member, or other individuals you are researching, lived before the war. The town name is often the most useful entry point to available resources, as it can help you decide which archives would be most helpful in your research.
Additional Resources
JewishGen, a website devoted to Jewish genealogy, also provides guidelines for beginning family history research. See their Frequently Asked Questions page for an extensive discussion of methods and resources.