"There is no single list of victims and survivors of Nazi persecution. Instead, researching an individual's story during the Holocaust is a process of following trails and piecing together bits of information." - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
When beginning Holocaust genealogy research, identify specific research questions you wish to answer.
Suggested research questions:
- What information can I find about individual family members?
- Did they experience the Holocaust?
- What happened to them?
- Can I find any survivors, their descendants, or other relatives?
- What information can I find about individuals' lives before, during, and after the war?
Holocaust Genealogy Resources
Use the following links to begin your Holocaust genealogy research.
- 7 Holocaust Records Resources for GenealogistsWhere to research Holocaust genealogy records in online and physical archives.
- Genealogy: Getting Started (New York Public Library)Comprehensive guide to beginning your genealogy research.
- Genealogy Essentials (New York Public Library)Free online classes on genealogy, family history, ship passenger lists, census, naturalization, and other vital records.
- Getting Started with Holocaust Genealogy Research (New York Public Library)Learn about resources for Holocaust genealogy research at NYPL and beyond.
- Holocaust Research Guide (Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute)Guide to archival and published materials at the Center for Jewish History.
- How can I learn what happened to individuals during the Holocaust? (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)Learn more about conducting research at the USHMM
- Introduction to Polish Genealogy (NYPL)Strategies and resources to research your Polish family history.
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.
- Ancestry Library EditionVital records database with 200+ Holocaust-related collections. Ancestry Library Edition is accessible with a Library card; the Holocaust-related collections and many others are also freely available at Ancestry.com
- Arolsen Archives-International Center on Nazi Persecution (formerly know as the International Tracing Service)Online archive and international inquiry center for victims of Nazi persecution
- JewishGen Holocaust DatabaseMore than 5.9 million records including Camp Records, Transport Lists, Name Lists, and a multitude of of other record types.
- Yad Vashem - Central Database of Shoah Victims’ NamesNames and biographical details for Jews murdered by the Nazis and their accomplices
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:
Suggested keywords
- Holocaust victims registers
- Righteous Gentiles in the Holocaust registers
- Holocaust survivors registers
- Holocaust deportations registers
- Jews registers
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.
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.
- Ackman and Ziff Family Genealogy Institute (Center for Jewish History)Reference and genealogical resources for the Center’s comprehensive collections
- Ancestry Library EditionVital records database with 200+ Holocaust-related collections. Ancestry Library Edition is accessible with a Library card; the Holocaust-related collections and many others are also freely available at Ancestry.com
- Arolsen Archives-International Center on Nazi Persecution (formerly know as the International Tracing Service)Online archive and international inquiry center for victims of Nazi persecution.
- Bundesarchiv (Germany)Information on researching individuals in the German Federal Archives.
- Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical InstituteResearch institute for Polish Jewry, specializing in genealogy.
- Genealogy IndexerFree search engine for Central and Eastern European directories and yizkor books.
- IGRA - Israel Genealogy Research AssociationIGRA helps people with their family research and making available to the public a wide variety of material from the Ottoman period through the early years of Israeli Statehood, as well as additional material about Jews from the Diaspora located in Israeli archives.
- JewishGen.orgJewish genealogy site, with Holocaust database, yizkor book database and translations.
- Jewish Heritage Center of Western CanadaDevelops, interprets and disseminates information on the history and culture of western Canadian Jewry; develops awareness of the Holocaust and other human rights violations.
- Joint JDC Archives (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee)Extensive archival collections including documents and media, partially searchable by database.
- Mapping the Lives (Tracing the Past)Interactive database with street maps of the persecuted in Europe 1933–1945.
- Poland Holocaust-Era DatabaseThe database has 400,000+ records, covering hundreds of towns and consisting of more than 300 separate projects focusing on Poland.
- Records and Research on Holocaust-era Assets (U.S. National ArchivesLinks to information about the vast quantity of records in the collection.
- Research Guide to Holocaust-related Holdings at Library and Archives CanadaComprehensive listing of archival materials, and a selection of published books in the collection.
- SephardicGen.orgComprehensive site for Sephardic genealogy, including databases by country.
- Sharit Ha-PlatahList of Holocaust Survivors in Displaced Persons Camps in Germany and Austria (1945).
- Testimonies of Roma and Sinti (Prague Forum for Romani Histories)Database of printed testimonies of Roma and Sinti from the Czech lands (today's Czech Republic) and Slovakia.
- Wiener Holocaust Library: Genealogy Records and Resources by CountryLinks to genealogical resources, sorted alphabetically by country, including an International section.
- Yad Vashem - Central Database of Shoah Victims’ NamesNames and biographical details for Jews murdered by the Nazis and their accomplices
- Yizkor BooksGuide to NYPL's collection of 700 yizkor (Holocaust memorial) books, digitized with the Yiddish Book Center.