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 events as they were unfolding, 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.
On-site and Online Research
The Reference and Information Services Department advises and guides researchers and the public at large in locating materials and information related to the Holocaust.
The Reading Room is open to the public without preregistration. Conducting a search of the wealth of materials in our online databases is recommended before visiting.
The Yad Vashem Archives offer online reference and information services, including sending archival materials without the need for a visit.
Submit a request to locate information about Shoah victims using an online form or by regular mail.
A National Campaign to Rescue Personal Items from the Holocaust Period
At home, many of us have items that tell the story of those who were important to us – people, families and communities. Over time, the documents, objects and photographs decay and are liable to get lost. Search your house for documents, photographs or objects from the years before the war, during the Holocaust, from life in the DP camps and the immediate post-war period, and submit them to Yad Vashem for posterity.
Hall of Names
No cemeteries, no headstones, no traces were left to mark the loss of the six million Holocaust victims. The Hall of Names at Yad Vashem is the Jewish people’s memorial to each Jew murdered in the Holocaust – a place where they are commemorated for generations to come.
Spotlight
The Yad Vashem collections form the world's most extensive archival repository on the subject of the Holocaust. There is a story behind every photograph, every work of art, every letter, every object: the story of an individual, a family, a community.
An underground archive that was established and run by historian and community figure Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum, with the express purpose of documenting the reality of life under Nazi occupation.
Online Store
Editor: Israel Gutman
Articles presented at the international conference held at Yad Vashem to mark 60 years since Ringelblum’s murder by the Germans.
Editors: Yitzhak Arad, Israel Gutman, Abraham Margaliot
Selected sources on the destruction of the Jews of Germany and Austria, Poland, and the Soviet Union.
Editor: Walter Zwi Bacharach
A unique volume of letters that were uncovered over 60 years, preserved by the victims’ families and friends, and ultimately donated to Yad Vashem.