United States Museum of the Holocaust

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has, in keeping with its subject matter, a sombre tone. Using an amazing and harrowing range of images, the site pulls no punches in its accounts of the suffering of the Jews during the Second World War.



It is impossible to fault the thoroughness of the approach and the high academic quality of the site. Although a visit to Belsen or Auschwitz may be more emotionally poignant, anyone seeking to understand the Holocaust could not find a better source of information or understanding than this site. It is really more of a resource and study centre than a museum; despite its online exhibits and accounts of the permanent galleries and temporary exhibitions, the bulk of the site is concerned with more strictly academic matters. There is a large online resource in the picture archive (which can be found through the collections section), and an option to search the library collections at the museum for archival material and books connected with the Holocaust. Both of these areas work quickly and effectively, though they should probably only be used as a guide to the nature of the collections rather than any indication of their size. It is difficult to see how any scholar or even university student could write about the Holocaust without examining this site closely. These facilities are complemented by the excellent online exhibitions, which contain many contemporary photos and documents.



This site represents more than just an archive, as all the research is ongoing and there is lots of information on job opportunities, fellowships, internships, education programs and the like. The site also acts as the homepage for a variety of societies and causes emerging from the Holocaust, such as Holocaust-era Assets, the Registry of Holocaust Survivors, and information about the proposed Holocaust Remembrance Day.


SPECIAL FEATURES


Picture Archive The picture archive contains a selection of some of the thousands of images held in store at the museum. Though the pictures can be viewed thematically, there is a search facility that works very well. Using a well-known Jewish surname produced harrowing pictures of a child of that name in a group photograph of a classroom from the early 1930s. All 20 children in the photo were named; that is the level of research that has gone into this site. The thematic display of contemporary images highlights this thoroughness; available online are 423 images of the concentration camps and 222 of women effected by the Holocaust.


Online Shop At the time of writing the museum's online shop was being redeveloped, but in the meantime you can call the muesum's shop free of charge to enquire about products on offer.


Online Exhibition These exhibitions combine images and text in thought-provoking ways in order to cover specific aspects of the Holocaust and Nazism. Crystalnacht, the Berlin Olympics and the Holocaust in Greece are three examples of the 28 themes. The carefully chosen images include rare photos, and the effect is both moving and informative. Much of the images in these presentations are merely photostats of administrative documents connected to the Final Solution or daily, governmental prejudice. All the presentations run to about 10 pages in length and complement the work of the museum perfectly. Further details on each exhibition, including teaching packs, are available on request.