As the persecution and mass murder of European Jews unfolded, and shortly after the liberation, activists set out to document the fate of their communities. Jewish historical committees in several countries collected documents, artifacts and testimonies and brought together a major body of evidence - yet one which was later forgotten or used reluctantly. The edition, for the first time, brings together samples of early testmonies of Jewish witnesses and survivors taken before the 1960s.

The edition was expanded in 2024 by a series of unique Yiddish testimonies.

Example testimonies

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EHRI-ET-JMP018
Isaak Berner
Jewish Museum in Prague, Documents of Persecution, inv. no 80. Original in German.
Testimony of Isaak Berner, which became a part of the “documentation campaign” in Prague. Berner describes the beginning of the Nazi occupation in Riga and the persecution of Jews that followed. In October 1941, Jews from Riga were forced to moved…

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EHRI-ET-YV3549213
1945-05-26
Yad Vashem Archives, The Ball-Kaduri Collection: Contemporary testimonies and reports regarding the Holocaust of the Jews of Germany and Central Europe, 1943-1960 (O.1), file no. 3549213.Original in German.
Letter from Johanna Rosenthal, a survivor of the Jewish community in Potsdam, describing her deportation along with most of the community members to the Riga Ghetto, and some to the Kaiserwald, Stutthof, Salaspils, Bergen-Belsen, and probably…

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EHRI-ET-DEGOB3648
1946-02-12 | National Committee for Attending Deportees (DEGOB) | Budapest
Hungarian Jewish Archives, DEGOB, Protocol no. 3648. Original in Hungarian.
Testimony of M. S., a conservative Zionist leader and a member of the Palestine Office on Zionist rescue activities in Budapest and the history of the “Glass House”.

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EHRI-ET-DEGOB3538
1945-11-13 | National Committee for Attending Deportees (DEGOB)
Hungarian Jewish Archives, DEGOB, Protocol no. 3538. Original in Hungarian.
Testimony of 31-year-old Dr. A.K. on his hardships as a labor serviceman in the Hungarian Army on the Eastern front in 1942/43, where he deserted along with 41 comrades and joined the partisans.

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EHRI-ET-ZIH3010106
1945-03-09 | Leon Perelsztejn
Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, Holocaust Survivor Testimonies (coll. 301), Leon Perelsztejn Testimony (301/106). Original in Polish.
Testimony of Leon Perelsztejn, who after his arrest in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski was sent to the Treblinka extermination camp, where he was assigned to work at the tool house. He describes the crematoria and methods of burning corpses as well as his…

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EHRI-ET-SOV004
1941 | Łódź
Dos blut ruft tsu nekome (Moscow: Der emes, 1941), pp. 100–104. Original in Yiddish.
Report of Moyshe Broderzon the Yiddish writer, who analyzes the German methods of torture and humiliation of Jews in occupied Poland.

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EHRI-ET-JMP009
1945-05-27 | Herta Bondyová | Prague
Jewish Museum in Prague, Documents of Persecution, inv. no 80. Original in Czech.
Testimony of Herta Bondyová describing in a literary way what followed after her deportation from Auschwitz to Bergen-Belsen. She tells emotionally the stories of her fellow prisoners and points out the harsh living conditions in the camp.

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EHRI-ET-YV3540639
Chortkiv
Yad Vashem Archives, The Central Historical Commission of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. Zone (M.1.E), file no. 3540639. Original in Yiddish.
Testimony of Mitzel regarding her survival with her children in the forests of eastern Galicia.

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EHRI-ET-YV3540604
Kaunas
Yad Vashem Archives, The Central Historical Commission of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. Zone (M.1.E), file no. 3540604. Original in Yiddish.
Testimony of Sheine Weiner regarding the transport from the Kaunas Ghetto to Riga, 1942.

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EHRI-ET-WL16560458
1957
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, Eyewitness testimony Collection (coll. 1656), 458. Original in German.
Testimony of Ursula Finke, who describes the increasing discrimination after 1933 and the blackmailing of her father. She finished school early and learned dressmaking. Finke was assigned to forced labor in a coat factory and moved to a “Jewish…

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EHRI-ET-WL1375B327
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, Kristallnacht Reports (coll. 1375), B. 327. Original in German.
Testimony of a Jewish business owner recorded shortly after the November Pogrom in 1938 describing the progression of laws that led to the destruction of his business (and those of other Jews), including the boycott of Jewish businesses and…

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EHRI-ET-JMP012
1945-08-16 | Karel Abeles (later name Brožík) | Prague
Jewish Museum in Prague, Documents of Persecution, inv. no 80. Original in Czech.
Testimony of Karel Abeles (later name Brožík), which became a part of the “documentation campaign” in Prague. Abeles describes being forced to leave his hometown Teplice in the Czechoslovak borderland in the fall of 1938. His family moved to Prague,…

New documents

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EHRI-ET-ZIH3010545
1945-07-02 | Czyżew
JHI, 301, Relacja Etki Żółtak (301/545) Original in Yiddish.
Testimony of Etka Żółtak regarding the experiences of Jews in Czyżew during the German occupation.

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EHRI-ET-ZIH3010317
1945 | Vilnius
JHI, 301, Relacja Niusi Białoszer (301/317) Original in Yiddish.
Testimony of Niusia Białoszer on the capture of Vilnius by the Germans and the confiscation of Jewish shops and houses. She recalls the synagogue and ritual objects burning, the imposition of badges with the Star of David, and the early executions of…

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EHRI-ET-ZIH3010107
1945 | Siemiatycze
JHI, 301, Relacja Rafaela Kirszenbluma (301/107) Original in Yiddish.
Testimony of Rafael Kirszenblum on the Siemiatycze Ghetto, which was established in July 1942. A few months later, the first liquidation action took place. He escaped to a partisan unit in the forests. The second liquidation action at Siemiatycze was…

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EHRI-ET-ZIH3010036
1945 | Wieliczka
JHI, 301, Relacja Maksa Rösslera (301/36) Original in Yiddish.
Testimony of Maks Rössler, who describes the liquidation of the Wieliczka Ghetto, the mass execution of Jews near Niepołomice, and the living conditions and forced labor in the concentration camps in Rozwadów and Stalowa Wola.

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EHRI-ET-ZIH3010025
1945 | Głębokie/Hlyboke
JHI, 301, Relacja Lidy Braun (301/25) Original in Yiddish.
Testimony of Lida Brau on the establishment of two ghettos in Hlyboke, one for the younger and one for the older Jews, executions, liquidation actions, Jewish self-defense, and transports to Lublin. After the loss of her family, she run away to the…

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EHRI-ET-ZIH3010005
1944-09-05 | Warsaw
JHI, 301, Relacja Karola Tajgmana (301/5) Original in Yiddish.
Testimony of Karol Tajgman regarding the liquidation action in the Warsaw Ghetto and his deportation to the Treblinka extermination camp, from which he escaped during the revolt.

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EHRI-ET-WL05320004
1939-10-14 | Mińsk Mazowiecki
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, coll. 532, protocol no. 4. Original in Yiddish.
Testimony of Leyb Rozentsvayg, recorded on 14 October 1939 and describing his flight to Lublin and eventually Warsaw in an attempt to escape the German invasion. He describes the devastation wrought by bombardment and witnessed Jews being rounded up…

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EHRI-ET-WL05320010
1939-11-12 | Międzyrzec
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, coll. 532, protocol no. 10. Original in Yiddish.
Testimony of Shloyme Perkal, recorded on 12 November 1939 and describing his experiences in Międzyrzec Podlaski at the time of the German invasion of Poland, including bombardments and mass casualties as well as the arrival of refugees who fled other…

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EHRI-ET-WL05320006
1939-11-16 | Bialystok
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, coll. 532, protocol no. 6. Original in Yiddish.
Brief testimony of Leyb Blumberg, recorded on 16 November 1939 and describing his flight from Warsaw to Vilnius in October 1939, during which he and his fellow travelers were not bothered by German troops. They reached Vilnius without difficulty.

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EHRI-ET-WL05320003
1939-11-15 | Przasnysz
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, coll. 532, protocol no. 3. Original in Yiddish.
Testimony of a fifteen-year-old youth, recorded on 15 November 1939 and describing the German invasion of Wyszków and surrounding areas. Y. M. Sh. describes refugees, including many Jewish refugees, who fled from occupied areas into the village and…

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EHRI-ET-YV3552513
1947-08-22 | Saukenai
Yad Vashem Archives, Koniuchowsky Collection: Testimonies Regarding the Holocaust of Lithuanian Jewry, 1945-1981 The Central Historical Commission of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. Zone (O.71), file no. 3552513. Original in Yiddish.
Testimony of Loyba Klar regarding her experiences in hiding in Šaukėnai, Žagarė, Užventis, and Šiauliai, and in camps in Germany.

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EHRI-ET-YV3540639
Chortkiv
Yad Vashem Archives, The Central Historical Commission of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the U.S. Zone (M.1.E), file no. 3540639. Original in Yiddish.
Testimony of Mitzel regarding her survival with her children in the forests of eastern Galicia.