The AJR receives requests for help with family research on a daily basis, unsurprising when Genealogical Research was the area of most interest to descendants according to the results of the Next Generations AJR survey in 2021. Some don’t know where or how to start their research, while others may be looking for that one final piece of information to complete their search.
The AJR has its own resources in the Refugee Voices video testimony archive, the Holocaust UK Testimony Portal, and the recently discovered Kindertransport lists, as well as the AJR Journal archive of 80 years of monthly publications. As a general rule, we also recommend people contact World Jewish Relief, The Wiener Holocaust Library, and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain and therefore, we were delighted that these three organisations agreed to come along on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Belsize Square synagogue to help us Unearth Holocaust Archives, along with AJR’s Dr Bea Lewkowicz and Dr Amy Williams, who joined via video link from Amsterdam where she was busy unearthing more Kindertransport archival information.
The event began with an introduction from each archive about the information they hold and how it can be accessed, followed by the opportunity for individual consultations with the archivists, as well as chatting with others to compare their knowledge and share usual research tips.
For those unable to attend in person, we hope to run a similar event online later this year. In the meantime, here is some further information about the Holocaust archives and how to contact them.
World Jewish Relief (WJR) was established as the Central British Fund for German Jewry in 1933 to help refugees from Nazi-Europe, and succeeded in bringing around 65,000 Jewish refugees to safety. For decades, World Jewish Relief’s Case Files were lost and forgotten, until a chance discovery revealed a treasure trove of documents detailing the extraordinary help the charity gave to Jews fleeing Nazi persecution. Now, they are returning these documents to families, revealing fascinating details of their family history. The WJR archive holds the names of over 315,000 people, as well as records for the 65,000 refugees they supported in the 1930s and 40s. Enquiries can be made via the WJR website: www.worldjewishrelief.org/what-we-do/archives-your-family-history/
The Wiener Holocaust Library (WHL) is the sole point of access in the UK to a full digital copy of the International Tracing Service (ITS), a remarkable archive of over 30 million pages of Holocaust-era documents relating to the experiences of over 17.5 million people. The physical version of the ITS, known as the Arolsen Archives is held in Bad Arolsen, Germany, and was opened to researchers in 2007. It includes documents on incarceration in concentration camps, ghettos and prisons, documents on forced labour, documents on Displaced Persons camps and emigration, and documents on Jewish and other victims of Nazi persecution.
The Library has dedicated staff to support research in the ITS archive, which is often vast and complex to navigate. Research enquiries can be submitted via the WHL website https://wienerholocaustlibrary.org/what-we-do/research/its/ and they request one enquiry per sought person. Alternatively you can access the online version of the archive, available here: https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/search
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain (JGSGB) aims to promote and encourage the study of and research into Jewish genealogy. This is a membership organisation which offers unique databases, one-to-one mentoring, an education programme, special interest groups, conferences in London & Manchester, regional & local group meetings, lively e-mail discussion group and blog, library & resource centre in central London, a journal and informative quarterly newsletter, online events, and an extensive website www.jgsgb.org.uk The JGSGB was represented at our event by Jeanette M Rosenberg OBE who kindly prepared a handout of three pages of useful links and information which can be downloaded here https://wp.me/p3cjNY-k0
And we must mention our AJR historians and archivists. Dr Bea Lewkowicz introduced the recently launched Holocaust Testimony UK portal which works with partner institutions across Britain and beyond to share interviews with Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazism, rescuers and liberators. This initiative of the UK Government and the AJR was created to advance Holocaust education by providing user-friendly access to thousands of recorded interviews, and to honour the legacy of the Holocaust survivors and refugees who have courageously shared their testimonies with different institutions over the last 45 years. Bea described the many ways to search this incredible resource which currently holds 2368 interviews – www.holocausttestimony.org.uk
Dr Amy Williams, AJR’s Kindertransport Historian in Residence continues her tireless search for more Kindertransport lists and documentation. Amy showed examples of the numerous types of material recently uncovered thus far, work she will continue with long-standing partner organisations with the objective to build a comprehensive, searchable digital platform that will unite newly discovered and existing Kindertransport records—including the Kindertransport lists she uncovered during her fellowship at Yad Vashem. In the meantime, Amy can be contacted by email via [email protected]
“It was good to meet you yesterday and thank you so much for putting on such an amazing event. I’ve found documents about my grandparents that I hadn’t seen before and thanks to the incredible Amy, I’ve seen my dad’s name on a Kindertransport list. I can’t tell you how much it means to me and my family and thank you to you and everyone at AJR for all you do.” – Katie Mason, AJR member
The Archives said:
“The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain were really pleased to have been invited to take part in the Unearthing Holocaust Archives event. We were able to help many of the attendees to find records about their family members and to give them additional ideas about where they could look next in their journey to find out more about their families.”
“I was delighted to be able to join colleagues from across various research institutions to meet with members of the AJR for this special event revealing Holocaust-related archives. The heart of the work we do with the ITS Archive is supporting members of the public in their search for information about loved ones affected by Nazi persecution, and it was a privilege to be able to meet so many people face-to-face and hear their family stories.” – Elise Bath, ITS
“It was a pleasure to have had the opportunity to share family records found within the World Jewish Relief archives. We hope to reunite many more people with their family’s history and encourage others to get in touch to see if we may hold a piece of their past. Our thanks go to AJR for hosting such an informative and interesting event.” – Sharon Adler, WJR
“It was a very interesting afternoon, which brought together archives which hold documents or testimonies on refugees from Nazism, Holocaust survivors and Holocaust victims. I was particularly pleased to be able to facilitate immediate access to testimonies of parents and grand-parents and explain to the descendants of the interviewees how each interview is represented on an individual URL link on the Holocaust Testimony UK portal (which can be shared freely). Rabbi Claude Vecht-Wolf was delighted to learn that his father’s interview (Isidor Wolf) with the USC Shoah Foundation and AJR Refugee Voices Archive are both featured on the portal, as was David Selo, who is using edited extracts of his mother’s interview (Lauro Selo) for school presentations. In the future, he will be able to put the link to the entire Shoah Foundation interview on the Holocaust UK portal into his presentation.” – Dr Bea Lewkowicz, AJR
