Holocaust Research, Education, and Remembrance Online: Genealogy

The Library does not generally collect vital records about individuals, such as birth, death, marriage, or divorce records. For vital records related to Holocaust research, please use the online resources that are listed below and in the Genealogy Websites section of this page.

The New York Public Library's collection includes registers (official lists of people) pertaining to the Holocaust. These are organized geographically (by countries, and even by specific concentration camps) and topically (by categories such as Righteous Gentiles in the Holocausts, deportees, and children) in the research catalog. The Library's collection of registers is not exhaustive; we recommend also using the genealogy websites listed on this page.

Suggested subject headings:

• Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Registers of dead
• World War, 1939-1945 -- Registers of dead

Suggested keywords

• Holocaust victims registers
• Righteous Gentiles in the Holocaust registers
• Holocaust survivors registers
• Holocaust deportations registers
• Jews registers

Image: Cover of Buch der Erinnerung : die ins Baltikum deportierten deutschen, österreichischen und tschechoslowakischen Juden / bearbeitet von Wolfgang Scheffler und Diana Schulle ; herausgegeben vom "Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V" and "Riga-Komitee der deutschen Städte" gemeinsam mit der Stiftung "Neue Synagoge Berlin-Centrum Judaicum" und der Gedenkstätte "Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz" = Book of remembrance : the German, Austrian and Czechoslovakian Jews deported to the Baltic states / compiled by Wolfgang Scheffler and Diana Schulle ; edited by "Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V" and "Riga-Komitee der deutschen Städte" in cooperation with the "Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin-Centrum Judaicum" and the memorial "Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz".

The New York Public Library's collection includes 700 yizkor books (Holocaust memorial books) documenting Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust. Yizkor books are an invaluable tool for genealogical research, containing names, photos, testimonies, maps, and articles about daily life; many also contain name indexes.

Did your family members or the individuals you're researching live in an affected area immediately before or during the Holocaust?

• Find out if there's a yizkor book for their town or city by checking JewishGen's bibliographic database of yizkor books.
• Look up yizkor books by town/city name in NYPL's Yizkor Books Guide.
• Read the books online (85% have been digitized in cooperation with the Yiddish Book Center) or visit the Library to read them in person.
• Most yizkor books are in Hebrew and/or Yiddish. English translations for many are found on JewishGen and in print.  

Illustration: Cover of טלץ' : תולדות קהילה יהודית במורדות הקרפטים : יסודה, חייה וחורבנה . Ṭelts' : toldot ḳehilah Yehudit be-mordot ha-Ḳarpaṭim : yesodah, ḥayeha ṿe-ḥurbanah

The New York Public Library offers free online genealogy classes.

Browse the Genealogy Essentials course listings.

The websites listed below are from organizations and projects specializing in Holocaust genealogy, including records of individuals.