The Holocaust Encyclopedia — U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

The best place to begin: a free, trusted encyclopedia of the Holocaust from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators persecuted and murdered six million European Jews, along with millions of others the regime targeted. The Holocaust is one of the most thoroughly documented crimes in history, and remembering it accurately is a responsibility that belongs to everyone.

The museum’s free Holocaust Encyclopedia has articles, maps, photographs, survivor testimony and primary documents in many languages. It is written for students and general readers and is the recommended starting point for this shelf.

A note on this shelf

Most memoirs by survivors are still under copyright and are not free to publish here. They are well worth buying or borrowing from your library. The documents on this shelf are official records and free resources you can read today.

Part of the Boston Made Reader’s special collection Courage, Conscience & Service. Every book and document here is free to read.