The Wiener Holocaust Library

02/12/2023

🎁 🎁

Our programme of exhibitions brings some of the over one million items in our archive, including photographs, letters, and eyewitness testimony, to the wider public.

By donating to the Library this week, you will be helping us to put our collections at the service of public awareness, education and the wider good.

From now until 5 December your donations are match-funded through the Big Give, so will go even further to support our vital work.

🔗 Donate this by clicking the link in our bio!

01/12/2023

🎁 🎁

Over the last ninety years, our work has only been possible because of the generous support we have received from individuals and organisations through donation, grants and legacies.

From now until 5 December your donations are match-funded through the Big Give, so will go even further to support our vital work.

🔗 Make your donation to support us during this https://buff.ly/3RcvljN

30/11/2023

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Our Outreach Coordinator, Yasmin, sees first-hand what sharing our valuable collections with the public can achieve. On any given day this may include hosting events, sharing travelling exhibitions, welcoming people from different communities to the Library, and working with our team of volunteers to increase the accessibility of our collections.

Our outreach programmes are underpinned by the vital evidence in our holdings. With your support this week we can invest further in increasing access to and engagement with the remarkable collections in our archive.

This will help us to continue to build public awareness of this period of history and counter narratives of denial and distortion.

🔗 Donate now to ensure your generosity is doubled! https://buff.ly/3RcvljN

29/11/2023

🎁 🎁

This year our Periodicals Librarian and Project Cataloguer, Madeleine, has been uncovering and cataloguing the Library's art collection. This framed portrait was painted in the Thereseinstadt ghetto.

Our Collections team uses their expertise to work to conserve valuable objects and documents in order that they survive for future generations.

By donating during the Big Give this week your generosity is doubled, meaning we can undertake even more vital work to put our unique collections at the service of the future.

Donate now: https://buff.ly/3RcvljN

23/11/2023

We’re launching our 2023 Big Give Christmas Challenge campaign on the 28th November.

This year we’re asking our friends and supporters to help us raise £45,000 so we can continue to be a world-leading Holocaust archive, offering valuable resources for education, ground-breaking research, and vital public engagement.

Over the last ninety years, our work has only been possible because of the generous support we have received from individuals and organisations through donations to help us grow as an institution and care for our vital collections.

Keep an eye out for the campaign going live, and for one week only your donations will be matched. Visit the link below to donate when the campaign commences...

Thank you in advance for your generosity!

https://buff.ly/3RcvljN

12/11/2023

06/11/2023

We've been overwhelmed with messages of support over the last few days, and have received many generous donations.

We've launched a fundraiser to make it simpler for people to make a donation that will go directly to helping us care for our collections.

We are a charity dependant on the generosity of our supporters to be able to continue our vital work.

Thank you to everyone who has offered warm words of encouragement for our mission in the wake of this sad incident, we're so grateful to all of you.

Help the Wiener Holocaust Library to preserve its collectionsYour support will allow us to care for our unique and important collections of over one million items includes published and unpublished works, press cuttings, photographs and eyewitness testimonies from the the Holocaust, the N**i era and...

02/11/2023

📧 Our November newsletter is out now! 📧

Read the latest edition via our website, and make sure you subscribe to receive our updates:

Read past editions of our E-Newsletter and Annual Reviews.

01/11/2023

A call for unity against hate.

Read our Director's response to the concerning proliferation of antisemitism, prejudice and hatred we have witnessed during this period of renewed violence.

The Wiener Holocaust Library's Director responds to a proliferation of prejudice and hatred in the wake of renewed conflict in the Middle East.

31/10/2023

📧 The first week of every month we collate exciting news from the Library and send it directly to your inbox 📧

Each edition may include news of recent acquisitions, forthcoming exhibitions and events, or updates from our outreach programme

Subscribe to receive the November e-newsletter now:

The Wiener Holocaust Library Email Forms

30/10/2023

We're delighted that our Fourth Annual Alfred Wiener Holocaust Memorial lecture will take place at Gresham College on 22 November.

This year Professor Sir Richard Evans will discuss the history and evolution of antisemitic conspiracy theories. He will address the history of antisemitic conspiracy since the Middle Ages, examine its nature and operation today, and consider its future development.

Register to attend online or in person now: https://buff.ly/3s5VvuZ

27/10/2023

Our Programme, designed to support schools, universities, students and teachers, has expanded and evolved significantly over the last decade

We now reach more teachers and students than ever before, with our unique collections forming the foundations of the programme.

Over the past year, we have delivered 50 education sessions, reaching 1,319 students and 157 teachers and educators across 45 educational institutions

Find out what we can do for your school group, and discover our forthcoming free education workshops:

We have an active outreach programme for the public, for schools, and for scholars.

26/10/2023

📢 A new exhibition launches at the Library next week 📢

To mark the 85th Anniversary of the "Polenaktion" - the first mass expulsion of Jews from Germany by the N**i regime and an important stage on the route to the Holocaust - an exhibition about this crucial and often overlooked event will now be displayed in Britain for the first time.

On the 27 and 28 October 1938, 17,000 Jews with Polish citizenship were forced at gunpoint to cross the Eastern border of Germany into Poland by the orders of Reinhard Heydrich.

An often overlooked but historically crucial event, the expulsion led to the assassination of a German diplomat in Paris, which itself sparked the frenzied violence of .

The Polenaktion also necessitated three rescues of persecuted Jewish children.

The story of the Polenaktion allows us to reflect on current refugee crises. In 1938 over 17,000 people became refugees over the course of a weekend.

Alongside the wider history, this exhibition explores the personal and emotional stories for four families who were caught up in the tragedy. Hours before their expulsion, they had owned own businesses, were craftspeople or students. Afterwards, they were dependent on the help and solidarity of others.

Expelled! The History of the “Polenaktion”, hosted at the Wiener Holocaust Library , marks the first time that this important moment in the history of the Shoah has been exhibited in Britain.

https://buff.ly/3LXpsUR

25/10/2023

📘 To mark our 90th anniversary we've published a new book, Witness: Highlights from the Wiener Library Collection 📘

Through 50 items from our archive, it describes the history of antisemitism, refugee experiences, and Jewish life before the Holocaust.

Each item tells a story of the struggle for dignity when confronted by barbarity. It attests not just to the inhumanity of genocide but also to endurance, generosity, and the will to survive, in a time of barely imaginable distress.

Buy your copy now:

This book is published to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Library. It contains a selection of just fifty items from our archive. Each one tells a story - often tragic, sometimes heroic - of the struggle for dignity and life itself when confronted by barbarity. It attests not just to...

23/10/2023

We're delighted to be partnering with Their Finest Hour for a Digital Collection Day at the Library!

We're inviting people to bring their stories and artefacts relating to the Second World War, the N**i era and the Holocaust, as part of a nationwide campaign.

Stories about your family’s experiences – and associated objects such as diaries, letters, photos, medals, and journals– will be recorded, digitised, and then uploaded to the Their Finest Hour online archive, which will be free-to-use from June 2024.

Find out more:

The Wiener Holocaust Library is looking for people to bring their stories and artefacts relating to the Second World War, the N**i era and/or the Holocaust to a ‘Digital Collection Day’ on Friday 10 November (10am - 3pm). The event is part of a nationwide campaign organised by Their Finest Hour,...

19/10/2023

📢 Invitation to tender! 📢

We’ve just launched a new opportunity for a to create a new set of visually appealing that represent some of the most important aspects of the Second World War and the Holocaust.

The Library will undertake the historical research that will form the content of the maps and we are seeking bids from those who can produce clear, accessible and attractively designed historical maps based on this information.

Find out more:

The Wiener Holocaust Library invites tenders to produce at least seventeen digital maps to be used by the Library and on its educational website, The Holocaust Explained.

17/10/2023

📢 A new exhibition launches at the Library next week 📢

To mark the 85th Anniversary of the "Polenaktion" - the first mass expulsion of Jews from Germany by the N**i regime and an important stage on the route to the Holocaust - an exhibition about this crucial and often overlooked event will now be displayed in Britain for the first time.

On the 27 and 28 October 1938, 17,000 Jews with Polish citizenship were forced at gunpoint to cross the Eastern border of Germany into Poland by the orders of Reinhard Heydrich.

An often overlooked but historically crucial event, the expulsion led to the assassination of a German diplomat in Paris, which itself sparked the frenzied violence of .

The Polenaktion also necessitated three rescues of persecuted Jewish children.

The story of the Polenaktion allows us to reflect on current refugee crises. In 1938 over 17,000 people became refugees over the course of a weekend.

Alongside the wider history, this exhibition explores the personal and emotional stories for four families who were caught up in the tragedy. Hours before their expulsion, they had owned own businesses, were craftspeople or students. Afterwards, they were dependent on the help and solidarity of others.

Expelled! The History of the “Polenaktion”, hosted at the Wiener Holocaust Library , marks the first time that this important moment in the history of the Shoah has been exhibited in Britain.

https://buff.ly/3LXpsUR

16/10/2023

📧 Missed our October e-newsletter? 📧

In this edition you can find out more about the launch of our new Fighting Antisemitism from Dreyfus to Today online and travelling exhibitions in the Houses of Parliament. We are also delighted to present the latest exhibition at the Library that will launch at the end of this month, revealing the story of the "Polenaktion".

Catch up now:

In this newsletter, find out more about the launch of our new Fighting Antisemitism from Dreyfus to Today online and travelling exhibitions in the Houses of Parliament. We are also delighted to present the latest exhibition at the Library that will launch at the end of this month, revealing the stor...

12/10/2023

Our 90th anniversary exhibitions are coming to a close soon!

Visit the Library before 20 October to see a selection of some of the most significant items from our remarkable archive, and to explore the Wiener and Finkelstein family stories

To mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Library’s predecessor organisation in Amsterdam, the Library is staging two exciting new exhibitions: Highlights From the Archives and The Wiener Family Story

10/10/2023

📢 Invitation to tender! 📢

We’ve just launched a new opportunity for a to create a new set of visually appealing that represent some of the most important aspects of the Second World War and the Holocaust.

The Wiener Holocaust Library will undertake the historical research that will form the content of the maps and we are seeking a digital cartographer who can produce clear, accessible and attractively designed historical maps based on this information.

Deadline for submissions is 3 November, and we look forward to reading the proposals!

The Wiener Holocaust Library invites tenders to produce at least seventeen digital maps to be used by the Library and on its educational website, The Holocaust Explained.

09/10/2023

📢 We run public archive tours every Tuesday at 2pm! 📢

If you're interested in a tour of our archive and Reading Room with one of our knowledgeable volunteers simply show up just before 2 and we'll be delighted to introduce you to our collection

Every Tuesday from 2-3pm you will be able to join a free tour of the Library and Archive (no booking required).

06/10/2023

Next week we're joined by Dr Laurien Vastenhout to explore the Holocaust in the Netherlands, and what is known as the 'Dutch paradox'.

Around three quarters (75%) of the Jews in the Netherlands were murdered during the Holocaust. Compared to Belgium (40%) and France (25%), this is by far the highest death rate in Western Europe.

Since the Netherlands is known for its supposed tradition of tolerance towards minorities, the question why so many Jews were deported and killed has occupied a central place in Dutch Holocaust historiography.

In this talk, Dr Laurien Vastenhout presents an explanatory framework for this so-called ‘Dutch paradox’. In doing so, she not only provides an insight into how the Holocaust unfolded in the Netherlands, but also address some persistent misconceptions about the role of the Jewish community leadership – specifically, the Dutch Jewish Council – in the process of isolation and deportation of the Jews during the German occupation.

Sign up now:

In this talk, Dr Laurien Vastenhout presents an explanatory framework for this so-called ‘Dutch paradox’. In doing so, she not only provides an insight into how the Holocaust unfolded in the Netherlands, but also address some persistent misconceptions about the role of the Jewish community leade...

05/10/2023

This check out one of our , a selection of books by Thomas Mann, whose works were banned by the N**is

Mann's books were also destroyed in mass burnings across Germany & Austria in 1933

Thomas Mann, recipient of the 1929 Nobel Prize for Literature, was one of many authors whose works were prohibited by the N**i Party. Authors, living and dead, were placed on the list because of their Jewish descent, pacifist or communist sympathies or suspicion thereof, or because the subject matte...

04/10/2023

📢 This just in! 📢

After a successful run at the Library, Fighting Antisemitism from Dreyfus to Today returns as a new format online exhibition

The exhibition draws upon our archive to explore the fight against in France, Britain & Germany

The struggle against antisemitism since the late nineteenth century

04/10/2023

Last night, AJR Next Generations group were given exclusive access, behind the scenes of the incredible archive at The Wiener Holocaust Library. A great opportunity for the group to deepen their understanding of their cultural history and meet up with old friends and new. If you're interested in joining our growing group – please email [email protected] to join us for a drink and a chat at our next Stammtisch on Oct 11

04/10/2023

𝗪𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗴𝗼𝘄

(29.09.2023)

The Wiener Holocaust Library brought its Recovery & Repair: Supporting Jewish Family Histories of the Holocaust in Britain project to Glasgow.
The two-day event was hosted by the Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre and Archives Centre, based in Garnethill Synagogue.
The Family History workshop helped participants conduct their own family research using the International Tracing Service digital archive, as well as highlighting other sources freely available online.
The workshop included presentations from local speakers Michael Tobias on the potential benefits of using DNA evidence for family research; Dr Angela Shapiro, who talked about the Gathering the Voices project; and Dr Irene O’Brien, who advised on how to carry out family research.
SJAC director Harvey Kaplan was on hand to assist with any queries that related to research on their collection.
Participants were also able to book free one-to-one consultations with The Wiener Holocaust Library’s expert researchers Elise Bath and Dr Ian Rich.
There were also talks by the two curators of the Fate Unknown exhibition, Dr Christine Schmidt and Professor Dan Stone.
The session was chaired by Dr Mia Spiro, senior lecturer in modern Jewish culture and Holocaust studies at the University of Glasgow.
Participants also heard from Geraldine Shenkin, daughter of Holocaust survivor Marianne Grant, whose artworks and history are displayed in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
Ms Bath hopes these events mark the beginning of increased collaboration between the Library and Glasgow’s Jewish community.
She said: “We intend to return to Glasgow within the year to continue to build links with the community here.”

11/09/2023

08/08/2023

"One of the world’s principal archives on the N**i era and genocide has launched a crowdfunding campaign to restore a Torah scroll which survived the Holocaust"

Find out more about our crowdfunding campaign to undertake vital conservation work via The Jewish News

Vital work need on Sefer Torah confiscated by N**is and stored in a Prague warehouse

04/08/2023

Our Project Archivist has been busy adding fascinating documents from our family papers collections to our innovative online . The interactive map reveals refugee journeys, and the stories of those who escaped N**i persecution.

New stories added to the map include that of Ruth Ibbitson (née Peschel), a child refugee to the UK who escaped Germany on a . Her parents survived the Holocaust but her brother was murdered at Mauthausen.

Also new to the site are documents relating to Hermann Heydecker, a WWI veteran who had been awarded the Iron Cross 3rd class for bravery and a prominent banker (the last Jew to be employed at the Dresdner bank after N**is began to pressurise them not to employ Jews). He was briefly imprisoned at Dachau but managed to leave and emigrated to Britain, where he was first imprisoned at the Kitchener Camp and then later at Hutchinson Internment Camp on the Isle of Man.

Visit the Refugee Map now to explore documents and photographs from their lives and uncover their unique stories. https://buff.ly/3QriBWq

03/08/2023

If you have visited the Library you may have seen our Sefer Torah, kept in a glass case in the Reading Room, generously loaned by the Memorial Scrolls Trust.

This month a restoration expert visited to advise on essential work to the scroll, including treatment for wormwood and repairs to the parchment to stop any further deterioration to its condition. We found out during the visit that the scroll is likely much older than we had thought, actually dating from the Czech Bohemian era in the mid 1700s!

We’re looking to crowdfund £2,000 to undertake this vital restoration work so that the Torah can be preserved for future generations and be re-displayed within the Library.

To donate, please click the link below, and enter ‘Sefer Torah’ as your accompanying message. We appreciated all donations, big or small, to help us complete this essential conservation. https://buff.ly/3YggF4Z

02/08/2023

If you have visited the Library you may have seen our Sefer Torah, kept in a glass case in the Reading Room, generously loaned by the Memorial Scrolls Trust.

This month a restoration expert visited to advise on essential work to the scroll, including treatment for wormwood and repairs to the parchment to stop any further deterioration to its condition. We found out during the visit that the scroll is likely much older than we had thought, actually dating from the Czech Bohemian era in the mid 1700s!

We’re looking to crowdfund £2,000 to undertake this vital restoration work so that the Torah can be preserved for future generations and be re-displayed within the Library.

To donate, please click the link below, and enter ‘Sefer Torah’ as your accompanying message. We appreciated all donations, big or small, to help us complete this essential conservation. https://buff.ly/3YggF4Z

31/07/2023

Our August e-newsletter will be making its way to inboxes soon, with important updates from the Library, information about forthcoming events and news on exciting developments within our collections.

Sign up to receive the newsletter now:

The Wiener Holocaust Library Email Forms

24/07/2023

12/07/2023

📘"As different as these documents are, some are handwritten, some mass produced, many are texts, others are images preserving the traits of men, women and children, some are intimate traces of individual lives, some are destined for public use, they all speak with haunting insistence and precision" 📘

A new book from the Library, Witness, marks the 90th anniversary of our institution through fifty remarkable items from our archive. It includes a foreword by Hartwig Fischer, the Director of the British Museum, and is available to buy via our online shop now:

This book is published to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Library. It contains a selection of just fifty items from our archive. Each one tells a story - often tragic, sometimes heroic - of the struggle for dignity and life itself when confronted by barbarity. It attests not just to...

10/07/2023

📢 On display now! 📢

Come and see our latest exhibition from now until the 20 October

07/07/2023

📘 A new book from the Library! 📘

This book is published to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Library. It contains a selection of just fifty items from our archive.

Each one tells a story - often tragic, sometimes heroic - of the struggle for dignity and life itself when confronted by barbarity.

It attests not just to the inhumanity of genocide but also to endurance, invention and generosity, and the will to survive, in a time of barely imaginable distress.

Like the Library's collections, the book bears witness to the history of N**i Germany and the Holocaust and other 21st-century genocides such as in Darfur; it describes the history of antisemitism, the experiences of refugees, and Jewish life in Europe before the Hi**er dictatorship.

Buy your copy from our Online Store now:

This book is published to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Library. It contains a selection of just fifty items from our archive. Each one tells a story - often tragic, sometimes heroic - of the struggle for dignity and life itself when confronted by barbarity. It attests not just to...

06/07/2023

Join us to hear author Susan Ronald in conversation with award-winning author and historian Amanda Foreman about Susan’s new book, Hi**er’s Aristocrats.

06/07/2023

Darren Richman, grandson of late Holocaust survivor Zigi Shipper at The Wiener Holocaust Library on it's 90th anniversary

04/07/2023

🎥 In case you missed it!🎬

“As we hurtle towards a world of advanced chatbots and deep fake AI video generators, it struck me how vital original testimony is and that an archive such as this is preserved and exposed to the world as much as possible."

To mark the 90th Anniversary of the establishment of the Library’s predecessor organisation in Amsterdam, we worked with the National Film and Television School's Bridge to Industry scheme to commission two short films highlighting our important work and unique collections.