UK library releases massive Holocaust archive online

One of the world's largest Holocaust archives has been published online for the first time, coinciding with Holocaust Memorial Day and the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation.

The Wiener Holocaust Library’s new online portal features over 150,000 documents, including photographs, testimonies, and transcripts that chronicle the Nazi genocide of six million Jews.

“The need to defend the truth has been given new urgency by the resurgence of antisemitism and other forms of misinformation and hatred,” said Toby Simpson, director of the London-based library, in a statement.

“By placing a wealth of evidence freely available online, we are ensuring that the historical record is available for all, regardless of their location, prior knowledge, or means.”

Preserving history

The collection includes chilling photographs of Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp in Poland where more than one million Jews were murdered between 1940 and its liberation on January 27, 1945.

Also featured are documents from the Nuremberg war crimes trials of Nazi leaders, as well as materials about fascist and anti-fascist groups in the United Kingdom before and after World War II.

Among the library’s treasures are 500 pamphlets and books of anti-fascist propaganda distributed in Nazi Germany, cleverly disguised as cosmetic advertisements, recipe books, and housewife manuals to evade detection.

The Wiener Holocaust Library was established in the early 1930s by Alfred Wiener, a German Jew who fled Nazi persecution. Wiener dedicated his life to documenting atrocities and preserving evidence of Jewish persecution under Adolf Hitler’s regime.

By bringing these records online, the library aims to educate future generations and counter misinformation about the Holocaust, ensuring the lessons of history remain accessible in the face of rising global antisemitism.