Image Databases / Internet Sources
There ARE many great collections of images available over the internet, more each day. Libraries, scholarly institutes, museums, governments, and universities worldwide are creating high quality collections of primary sources with YOU in mind. Finding those may require a little more effort, time and thought than a simple quick-and-dirty Google search. But, it will probably be worth it. Tools are tips are listed below each tool. They are more-or-less in descending order of relevance, but scan the list with your specific need in mind. Don't be too quick to judge a collection here. Some are challenging but there is an incredible array of images in these collections. With some patience and persistence you could find something here that you'd never find through a Google search.
- U.S. Holocaust Memorial MuseumAbout 30,000 well-documented, high quality photos are here. The search options in ADVANCED are incredible, but begin with some simple keywords and then scrutinize the photos you are most interested in to design the best ADVANCED search for more.
- Yad Vashem Digital CollectionsThe photos in here are nothing short of astonishing, but searching can be challenging, requiring patience. Make your way to the PHOTO ARCHIVE by mousing over DIGITAL COLLECTIONS (in the gray band at the top). Then put a very simple search in the field labeled TITLE.
- Collection of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in NYCThis is an online collection of artifacts that includes a very wide array of items, including photographs. Be sure to use the ADVANCED SEARCH.
- A Pictorial History of the Holocaust"Holocaust: A Pictorial History of the Holocaust." Encyclopaedia Judaica. Ed. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. 2nd ed. Vol. 9. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 460-489. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 June 2014.
Print Images to Scan
While there are many, too many, images related to the Holocaust that can be downloaded from the internet, you can sometimes find images more easily in books. In other words, you might more easily find "the perfect image for your purpose" by browsing a book. Once you know what you want, though, you might be able to find the exact image online anyway. In addition to the specific sources listed below, many of the Encyclopedias listed in the Reference section of this guide include rare and very high quality images. Be sure to look at those!
- The Yellow StarThis was originally published in 1960 in German. It was the first photographic account of the Holocaust. This is an expanded, English version of that landmark work.
- The Auschwitz AlbumThis book is based upon an album, entitled "Resettlement of Hungarian Jews," discovered by a concentration camp survivor, Lili Meier. It includes 185 photographs of Jews in the Nazi Auschwitz & Birkenau death camps taken by unknown SS officer in May, 1944. You can look through the book & then find a specific image on the USHMM website.
- Deathly StillBooklist August 1995 v91 n22 p1927
Huge collection of stark black & white photos of 24 different Nazi concentration and extermination camps taken since 1945. - In the CampsDescribed in a Library Journal review as "an evocative work of art," this collection of 74 captioned black & white photos is by German Magnum photographer Erich Hartmann, taken on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. The Afterword by the photographer is incredibly moving.
Feature Films & Documentaries
There are too many feature films and documentaries related to the Holocaust to list here! The library owns dozens and more are available through LINK+.
We have a 2-volume bibliography of Holocaust films from the 1930s until about 2004 if you want to see what exists out there, The Holocaust Film Sourcebook , and an electronic book,Historical Dictionary of Holocaust Cinema. You can keyword search the descriptions of the films in the e-book to identify potentially relevant films!
To access dozens of documentaries on the Holocaust available as streaming videos, use the database KANOPY, and just do a search on "Holocaust".
You can also identify DVDs we own that might be of use to you for your project by doing an Advanced search in the catalog, OSCAR, following the pattern pictured below. Setting the Material Type to VIDEO MAT'L is critical! Of course, if you know the name of the film, you can find it through a simple Title search.
Library CDs & Streaming Music Databases
- KZ MuzikThis is a set of 12 CDs .... really an encyclopedia of music composed in concentration camps from 1933 to 1945.
- KZ Musik IntroductionProvides a nice overview of the contents of this CD Encyclopedia!
- Hear our voices : songs of the ghettos and campsRecorded at Regis College Performing Arts Center, Congregation Mishkan Tefila and Northeastern University, May-June 1995.
- Camp songs ; Ghetto songsFrom poems written in Sachsenhausen concentration camp and the Krakow ghetto.
- Songs from the depths of hell (CD)Songs from various concentration camps sung in German, Polish, Ukrainian, and Yiddish.
- Echoes of the HolocaustThese piece are musical responses to the Holocaust. Click on the LINER NOTES above the image to read about the music.