Eyewitness Accounts of the Holocaust Period

Title: Eyewitness Accounts of the Holocaust Period

Inclusive Dates: 1939-1945

ID: RG 104

Extent Information

23'4"; 54 5"lgl; 4 2.5"lgl

Arrangement

The collection is divided into three series. Series I consists of boxes 1-15. Series II includes boxes 16-39. Series III consists of boxes 40-56.

Creators

Eyewitness Accounts of the Holocaust Period

Administrative/Biographical History

The YIVO Institute was involved in several projects to collect written testimonies by survivors of the Holocaust. The first organized effort took place between the years 1945-1948. Informants were sought out mainly in the Displaced Persons camps in Germany, Austria and Italy, but also in Poland and other countries of Eastern Europe. YIVO also received a substantial number of eyewitness accounts from other Jewish organizations which were involved in similar projects, in particular from the Jewish Historical Commission in Poland and the World Jewish Congress, Hungarian Section. The second project was conducted in 1954 as part of the YIVO-Yad Vashem Documentary Projects. Several hundred respondents were interviewed and their recollections were recorded by YIVO representatives. Finally, the YIVO Archives has been acquiring Holocaust testimonies continuously since the 1960's.

Subjects (links to similar collections)

Austria
Concentration, Death, Labor, and Internment camps
Displaced Persons and DP Camps
France
Ghettos, Holocaust
Holocaust and Aftermath
Hungary
Lithuania
Netherlands
Poland
Resistance, World War II
Soviet Union
Survivors, Holocaust
USSR
YIVO Institute For Jewish Research (New York)

Forms of Material (links to similar genres)

Documents - Collection

Finding Aid Information

Series I: Card Inventory, Yid., ms.; Index of places, Eng. & Yid., typed; Card Index of survivors, Yid., ms.; Series II: Card Index of names, and Card Index of places, Yid., typed; Series III: Card Index of places, Card Index of authors, Card Index of names of partisans, Yid., ms

Administrative Information

Access Notes: YIVO Archives collections are open to researchers only by appointment with an archivist. To inquire about papers and records, write to Chief Archivist, archives@yivo.cjh.org. To inquire about photographs and films, write to Photo and Film Archivist at Photofilm@yivo.cjh.org. To inquire about sound recordings, write to Sound Archivist, lsklamberg@yivo.cjh.org. For art works and artifacts, write to Chief Archivist at archives@yivo.cjh.org.

Rights: YIVO owns the compilation of content that is posted on this website, which consists of text, images, and/or audio, and video. However, YIVO does not necessarily own each component of the compilation. Some content is in the public domain and some content is protected by third party rights. It is the user's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in YIVO websites.

The materials on this web site may be used for personal, research and educational purposes only. Publication (including posting on the Internet and online exhibitions) or any other use without prior authorization is prohibited. Please visit https://www.yivo.org/Rights-Reproductions for more information about use of materials from this website.

YIVO has employed due diligence in seeking to identify copyright holders of the materials in this compilation. We invite any copyright owners who are not properly identified to contact us at yivomail@yivo.cjh.org.

Description: The testimonies document the Jewish experience in all countries under Nazi occupation between September 1939 and May 1945. Included are: accounts relating to ghettos and death, labor and internment camps; testimonies of Jews on the Aryan side and in hiding; memoirs of Jewish partisans and underground fighters. The collection is organized into three series, each series corresponding to a different collection project. Series I includes the earliest testimonies and consists of 1,143 items. A large proportion of this series relates to Poland with a smaller but significant group of materials on Hungary. There are a few accounts from Austria, Belgium, France and Holland. Camps, ghettos and cities represented by substantial materials: Auschwitz, Warsaw, Vilna, Lodz, Radom, Paris, Lvov, Skarzysko-Kamienna. Series II includes 500 interviews with survivors collected in 1954. Series III includes most testimonies received from the 1960's to the present. At present there are over 300 items in this series.