Guides @ UF: Resources for the Study of Antisemitism and the Holocaust: Libraries and Museums

Major International Holocaust Museums

Anne Frank House, Netherlands: The Anne Frank House was established on 3 May 1957 in cooperation with Otto Frank, Anne Frank’s father. We are an independent non-profit organisation that runs a museum in the house where Anne Frank went into hiding and we try to increase awareness of Anne’s life story all over the world.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, Poland: The museum is located on the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim, Poland. The site includes the main concentration camp at Auschwitz I and the remains of the concentration and extermination camp at Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The museum was created by an act of the Polish parliament on July 2, 1947. The website includes historical accounts, photographs, online visiting and exhibitions.

Bergen-Belsen Memorial Museum, Germany: Pursuant to the Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation Act (section 2, paragraph 1), the Foundation is responsible for designing, managing and maintaining the Bergen-Belsen and Wolfenbüttel Prison memorials both as places of commemoration dedicated to the victims of Nazi persecution and the Nazi judiciary, and as places of learning for future generations.

Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah, France: The Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah is a private and public-interest foundation. The initial endowment came from the restitution by the government and certain financial institutions of dormant accounts from expropriated Jews living in France who were killed during the Holocaust. With the funds generated by this endowment, the FMS subsidizes the Shoah Memorial (in Paris and in Drancy); supports projects expanding knowledge about the Shoah; provides assistance to survivors in need; encourages the transmission of Jewish culture; and combats anti-Semitism by facilitating intercultural dialogue.

The Ghetto Fighters' House , Israel: The Ghetto Fighters' House – Itzhak Katzenelson Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum– known as the “House” – is not only the first Holocaust museum in the world but also the first of its kind to be founded by Holocaust survivors. Since its establishment in 1949, the museum tells the story of the Holocaust during World War II, emphasizing the bravery, spiritual triumph and the incredible ability of Holocaust survivors ...

Imperial War Museum: Holocaust Galleries, UK: Dedicated to conserving, displaying and interpreting stories of the most devastating conflict in human history, IWM London is the first museum in the world to house Second World War Galleries and The Holocaust Galleries under the same roof. These new galleries will change the way we understand the past for generations to come.

Museu do Holocausto, Brazil: The idea of conceiving a space dedicated to Shoá's memory in Curitiba, Brazil, was born in the 1990s, during visits by businessman Miguel Krigsner, son and son-in-law of survivors, to major Holocaust memorials and museums ... the seed finally bore fruit in 2011 when the museum was inaugurated.

The National Holocaust Center and Museum, UK: the Centre was the brainchild of James and Stephen Smith along with their mother Marina who in 1991 visited Yad Vashem- Israel’s national Holocaust museum. This conscientious, thoughtful and considered Christian family were stunned and challenged by the information gathered during their journey. James and Stephen believed that their education of the Holocaust at school and university had been lacking as there had never been an opportunity to consider what the Holocaust might mean for them as individuals.The trip in 1991 changed the lives of the family as they came back to the UK and knew that the Holocaust had to be taught, discussed and understood by all. They were especially keen to see this done correctly for students learning about the Holocaust at school.

Yad Vashem , Israel: Yad Vashem: the World Holocaust Remembrance Center: Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, is the ultimate source for Holocaust education, documentation and research. From the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem, Yad Vashem's integrated approach incorporates meaningful educational initiatives, groundbreaking research and inspirational exhibits.

List of International Holocaust Museums and Memorials

Major US Holocaust Museums

Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum: Founded in 1984 by a group of Dallas area Holocaust Survivors, the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum is dedicated to teaching the history of the Holocaust and advancing human rights to combat prejudice, hatred and indifference.

The Florida Holocaust Museum: The Florida Holocaust Museum honors the memory of millions of innocent men, women and children who suffered or died in the Holocaust. The Museum is dedicated to teaching the members of all races and cultures the inherent worth and dignity of human life in order to prevent future genocides.

Holocaust Museum LA: Holocaust Museum LA is the first survivor-founded Holocaust museum in the United States. Its genesis dates to the 1960s, when a group of survivors met and discovered that each of them had a photograph, document or personal item from before the war. They decided that these artifacts needed a permanent home where they could be displayed safely and in perpetuity. They also wanted a place to memorialize their dead and help to educate the public so that no one would ever forget.

Museum of Jewish Heritage: a Living Memorial to the Holocaust: The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is New York’s contribution to the global responsibility to never forget. The Museum is committed to the crucial mission of educating diverse visitors about Jewish life before, during, and after the Holocaust.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Since its dedication in 1993, the Museum has welcomed more than 40 million visitors, including 99 heads of state and more than ten million school-age children. The Museum's website, the world’s leading online authority on the Holocaust, is available in 16 languages.

List of Holocaust Museums and Memorials in the US

Online Exhibitions

Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum: On-line Exhibitions Online exhibitions created by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum.
The Gathering Storm: Jewish Life in Germany and Eastern Europe in the 1930s Only available online, The Gathering Storm: Jewish Life in Germany and Eastern Europe in the 1930s features items produced by or pertaining to European Jewry before the advent of the Second World War. While the subject of Jewish experience during the war has been widely explored, life for Jewish people in the period immediately before the war is less well known and demand for relevant resources is increasing. Showcased here are rare German and Yiddish newspapers and periodicals, as well as ephemeral publications such as calendars, yearbooks and other communally inspired commemorative works. The selected materials form part of a much larger hidden collection of un-cataloged works held in the Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica. The Gathering Storm also serves as a prelude to the upcoming exhibition Testimony featuring primary sources relating to the Holocaust.
Jewish Life in Interwar Lodz The Digital Scholarly Commons: Jewish Life in Interwar Łódź (Jewish Łódź DSC) is a multifaceted website that combines the functions of a virtual museum, a digital archive, an online exhibit, and a platform for scholarly communication. The Jewish Łódź DSC offers multiple levels of access and multiple paths—pedagogic and scholarly—for engagement.
Montreal Holocaust Museum Virtual Exhibitions Online exhibitions created by the Montreal Holocaust Museum.
USHMM Online Exhibitions Online exhibitions created by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM).
The Wiener Holocaust Library Online Exhibitions Online exhibitions created by the Wiener Holocaust Library
Yad Vashem: Online Exhibitions Yad Vashem's collection of online exhibitions.

AGGB: Working Group of Memorial Libraries

Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Gedenkstättenbibliotheken (AGGB): The Working Group of Memorial Libraries (AGGB) was established in 1998 on the initiative of the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Center, Berlin, and the Topography of Terror Foundation, Berlin. It wants to support the work and acceptance of libraries in memorial sites and related institutions through cooperation, professional exchange and targeted training. Members of the AGGB are libraries of institutions or individuals. The libraries belong to memorials at the sites of Nazi crimes, Nazi documentation centers, memorials and other institutions for coming to terms with the SED dictatorship and contemporary historical research institutions... A central project of the AGGB is the joint online catalog with a focus on Nazi history. The catalog is maintained by Matthias Mann, German Resistance Memorial Center.

AGGB Catalog Resources in the Memorial Sites Libraries arranged by topic

Libraries and Archives

Arolsen Archives Clarifying fates and looking for missing persons: for decades, these were the central tasks of the Arolsen Archives. To this day, we answer inquiries about some 20,000 victims of Nazi persecution every year. Our work in the fields of research and education is more important than ever to inform today’s society about the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis. The comprehensive online archive is an essential part of what we do. As an international center on Nazi persecution, we see it as our mission to contribute to debate on remembrance and coming to terms with the Nazi period, political persecution and racism.
Library of Congress archives The following manuscript collections may be of interest to researchers studying Holocaust history. Please note this list is not comprehensive and the Manuscript Division may hold additional related collections to those identified below. Users may search the Library of Congress Online Catalog employing the "Search Tips" page of this guide for additional guidance on searching for Holocaust-related material.
Simon Wiesenthal Center: Archives and Library Our collections support the mission of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance, with primary emphasis on the Holocaust, genocide, antisemitism, and Jewish communities around the world, as well as tolerance, racism, civil rights, and human rights.
USHMM Archives
The Wiener Holocaust Library The Wiener Holocaust Library is one of the world’s leading and most extensive archives on the Holocaust, the Nazi era and genocide. The Library’s unique collection of over one million items includes published and unpublished works, press cuttings, photographs and eyewitness testimony.
Yad Vashem Archives About the Yad Vashem Archives In 1953, the Israeli Knesset enacted the Yad Vashem Law, which determined that among its other missions, the task of Yad Vashem is “to collect, examine and publish testimony of the disaster and the heroism it called forth…”. Indeed, efforts to document the Holocaust had begun long before the passage of the law. From the rise of the Nazis to power in Germany, and throughout World War II, there were those who documented the events as they were taking place, often under the harshest conditions. Immediately after the war, centers for documentation and the collection of testimonies were established in many places around the world, including Munich, Lublin, Paris, Bratislava and other locations.
YIVO archives Established in 1945, the YIVO Holocaust Archive holds close to 7 million pages of documents in more than 10 languages, covering events in all countries occupied by the Third Reich or where the circumstances of the Holocaust were experienced. The largest North American repository of original documents on the Holocaust, the Archive is also one of the most important of its kind in the world. The YIVO Holocaust Archive continues to expand each year, reflecting a steady annual stream of new archival donations.