Holocaust Remembrance Day

Auschwitz-Birkenau Extermination Camp - Oswiecim, Poland, National Archives Identifier, 305901

Eighty years ago, on January 27, 1945, Allied Forces liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration and death camp. Around the world, January 27 is a day to mark this horrific event and to never forget the atrocities Nazis committed against six million Jews and millions of other minorities.

The National Archives is the international epicenter of Holocaust-related research. NARA holds millions of records created or received by the U.S. Government during and after World War II that document Nazi war crimes, wartime refugee issues, and activities and investigations of U.S. Government agencies involved in the identification and recovery of looted assets (including gold, art, and cultural property)—as well as captured German records used as evidence at the Nuremberg International Military Tribunals. We not only hold these records, we provide access to them.

Learning about history is one of the best ways to prevent atrocities like this from ever happening again. NARA has many different types of original documents for different aspects of the Holocaust.

Records Relating to Concentration Camps

(Left) Prisoners in the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen, Germany, National Archives Identifier, 540175

(Right) Liberated prisoners in the Mauthausen concentration camp near Linz, Austria, give rousing welcome to Cavalrymen of the 11th Armored Division. The banner across the wall was made by Spanish Loyalist prisoners, National Archives Identifier, 531293

The National Archives at College Park, MD, holds records pertaining to several World War II Nazi concentration camps including Buchenwald, Dachau, Flossenberg, Nordhausen, Mauthausen, and their subcamps or satellite camps, such as Mühldorf camp complex, Ohrdruf, Langenstein-Zwieberge, Ebensee, Gusen camp complex, and others.

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower standing beside a gallows, National Archives Catalog 348448183

StoryMap: Background Information About Selected Nazi Concentration Camps

Use the new interactive map to learn about stories at some of the concentration camps with NARA records.

Map of concentration camp locations, National Archives Identifier 169155812

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Start your research on History Hub

For those looking to conduct research on the Holocaust, we encourage you to browse recent posts and related questions on History Hub:

I’m looking for information on the Army Camp in Marburg an der Lahn, Germany where my father and other Holocaust survivors worked after liberation in 1945.

What Nazi concentration camps was my Polish grandfather held captive at during the Second World War?

My mother was a Holocaust survivor and I am trying to determine her path after liberation with census records for Cuxhaven and Bremen, Germany, between 1946 and 1949.

Where can I request witness statements from the Mauthausen Concentration Camp trial?

When and where was this photograph of my Jewish family in Warsaw before the Holocaust likely taken?

Are you starting research of your own? Make History Hub your first stop! You can ask—or answer—questions on History Hub, or see if your question has already been answered! Check out our featured edition for more details, information, and instructions about using History Hub for your research.

Questions or comments? Email us at catalog@nara.gov