One of the central tasks of Yad Vashem, as the national institution that documents and commemorates the Holocaust, is the collection of various kinds of archival documentation: photographs, journals, testimonies, personal documents and belongings.
All materials arriving at the archives are listed in the Accessions Register, according to the Archives Law of the State of Israel. Confirmation of receipt of the item and its registration is sent to the submitter, and through the catalogue number that is assigned, it is possible to locate the item even after many years. Additional information about the items, such as anecdotes about the people appearing in the photographs, or background stories about letters is also saved. The items themselves are open to researchers and the public at large, unless the submitter has requested that limitations be placed on their availability.