International Center on Nazi Persecution

Displaced Persons card file with photo;
Photo: Arolsen Archives

The Arolsen Archives are the International Center on Nazi Persecution and have the most extensive archive in the world on victims and survivors of the Nazi regime. This collection with information on about 17.5 million people belongs to the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. It contains documents on the different groups victimised by the Nazi regime and is an important source of knowledge, in particular for the younger generations.

Every year, the Arolsen Archives respond to enquiries concerning about 20,000 persons persecuted by the Nazis. The centre's programmes for research and education are more important than ever in order to carry the knowledge of the Holocaust, of concentration camps, forced labour and the consequences of the Nazi crimes into society today. The Arolsen Archives are establishing an extensive online archive and make the documents accessible worldwide.

Memory of the World

The original documents and the central card file of names in the archive with a total of about 30 million documents became part of the UNESCO Memory of the World in 2013.

Permanent exhibition: "Ein Denkmal aus Papier"

On-site research

On-site family history

Every document tells a story

View of the correspondence file;
photo: Uwe Zucchi

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Online archive
Go to search website of Arolsen Archives Online Collections with more than 30 million original documents of the UNESCO Memory of the World
https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/search/
Details ansehen

"May this archive, which serves as restitution for the victims and their families, be a warning to all future generations to never again allow such a horror to afflict humanity."

Quote from the “deed of purpose” in three languages, embedded on 20 August 1952 in the walls of the main building at the topping-out ceremony.

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