Museum and The Zane Buzby Holocaust Archive/Survivor Mitzvah Project Unveil Groundbreaking Collection of Holocaust Survivor Testimonies from Eastern Europe

WASHINGTON — The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Zane Buzby Holocaust Archive/Survivor Mitzvah Project are proud to announce that a groundbreaking and invaluable collection of handwritten documents and photographs dedicated to preserving the largely untold stories of Holocaust survivors in remote parts of Eastern Europe will become an important part of the Museum’s ongoing commitment to build the collection of record on the Holocaust. 

“In a time of rising antisemitism and Holocaust denial, and just as we are losing our best teachers — the survivors themselves — ensuring their stories are preserved and made available for historians, educators, students and the public is more important than ever,” says James Gilmore, the Museum’s oral history curator. “With its focus on the Holocaust in Eastern Europe, The Survivor Mitzvah Project will become a vital educational resource in the Museum’s efforts to engage young people, promote critical thinking about how and why the Holocaust happened and counter Holocaust misinformation and denial.”

The Survivor Mitzvah Project, an award-winning nonprofit founded by CNN Hero Zane Buzby, provides lifesaving support to Holocaust survivors in Eastern Europe while ensuring their stories are heard and remembered. Buzby, a veteran television and film comedy director with more than 200 episodes of network television to her credit, has dedicated more than two decades to documenting the horrific, though vital, history of “The Holocaust in the East”— the lesser-known yet crucial chapter of the Holocaust where about 2 million Jewish men, women and children were murdered.

The project was created from Buzby’s personal journey and commitment to Holocaust education, beginning in 2001 when she traveled to Eastern Europe to trace her grandparents' roots. What she discovered was far greater than her family history — she uncovered extraordinary, untold stories of thousands of individuals and Jewish communities ravaged by the Holocaust. Says Buzby, “This trip left me with one foot in comedy and one foot in the Holocaust, and The Survivor Mitzvah Project was born.” 

The Zane Buzby Holocaust Archive/Survivor Mitzvah Project will become part of the Museum’s permanent collection, which is stewarded by the Museum’s David M. Rubenstein National Institute for Holocaust Documentation. The Survivor Mitzvah Project archive contains more than 40,000 handwritten pages of survivor testimony, as well as unique photographs and new data pertaining to those who were murdered or displaced during the Holocaust. “This archive affords people the opportunity to experience the whole essence of these individuals, their heartbreak, their humor, their surprising optimism, their abundance of kindness and compassion, and their deep desire to be part of creating a better world than the one they had been born into,” Buzby says. 

Notably, the archive has been translated from multiple languages into English, making it uniquely accessible to researchers, scholars, students and the public worldwide. This collection helps fill a critical gap in Holocaust education by bringing these essential voices of those who, long silenced under Soviet rule and forced to live in destitute conditions after the war, can now be heard by current and future generations. The archive, replete with a wealth of new information, is currently being scanned and meticulously cataloged by The Survivor Mitzvah Project prior to sending it to the Museum. This work will support discoverability and availability after the archive is added to the Museum’s collection. The Museum intends to make the archive accessible online in the future.

"The archive will serve as a remarkable resource for Holocaust scholars by broadening our understanding of largely undocumented experiences of Jews who survived the Holocaust in the East and whose stories will now be told for the first time,” says Gilmore of the Museum. “We are deeply grateful to The Survivor Mitzvah Project for entrusting the Museum with the stories of survivor eyewitnesses in areas where the history of the Jewish community is being forgotten and even erased.” 

“History lives through those who tell it," continues Buzby, an ADL (Anti-Defamation League) award recipient. “Sharing these stories and bringing them to public attention, ensures that generations to come understand the profound  importance of standing against hatred, antisemitism and intolerance wherever it takes hold.” 

For more information about The Survivor Mitzvah Project visit www.survivormitzvah.org, or call (800) 905-6160.

About the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

A nonpartisan federal, educational institution, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is America’s national memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, dedicated to ensuring the permanence of Holocaust memory, understanding, and relevance. Through the power of Holocaust history, the Museum challenges leaders and individuals worldwide to think critically about their role in society and to confront antisemitism and other forms of hate, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. For more information, visitushmm.org.