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Library Guides: History : Military: Primary Sources -- WWII

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A research guide to primary and secondary sources for military history.

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Introduction

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum collects Holocaust-related materials in all formats, including original documents, photographs, film footage, music, and oral histories, as well as published materials such as books, periodicals, documentaries, and other resources. While selected items from the collection are available online, the vast majority of these items are only available for use onsite at the Museum.

Examples of useful primary sources for learning about the Holocaust include diaries, letters, concentration camp records, or other documents created by victims, survivors, or perpetrators before, during, or after World War II. Primary sources can also include photographs, film footage, and newspaper and magazine articles created at that time. Memoirs and oral history interviews of survivors, liberators, or other eyewitnesses are also considered primary sources, but because these documents were usually created well after the event they may be viewed with skepticism by some researchers. For research purposes, nonfiction books and encyclopedias are considered to be secondary sources because they are generally created by individuals not present at the time of an actual event, although secondary sources are usually based on primary source materials.

Copies of key primary sources related to the history of the Holocaust have been reproduced in published compilations, as appendices in secondary sources, or are available on the World Wide Web. Some publications present reproductions of original documents in their original language, while others present English translations alongside or instead of the original language.

Annotations are provided to help the user determine the item's focus, and call numbers for the Museum's Library are given in parentheses following each citation. Languages included in each collection are also listed after the annotation. Those unable to visit might be able to find these works in a nearby public library or acquire them through interlibrary loan. Follow the "Find in a library near you" link in each citation and enter your zip code at the Open WorldCat search screen. The results of that search indicate all libraries in your area that own that particular title. Talk to your local librarian for assistance.

Nazi Germany and the Holocaust

Mendelsohn, John, editor. The Holocaust: Selected Documents in Eighteen Volumes. New York: Garland, 1982. (Reference D 810 .J4 H645 1982) [ Find in a library near you]

Reproduces key original documents tracing the history of the Holocaust from the early 1930s, through the establishment of the ghettos and camps, to the prosecution of Nazi officials after the war. Presents translations alongside most of the original documents. [German and English]

Organized in 18 volumes:

Legalizing the Holocaust: The Early Phase, 1933-1939

Legalizing the Holocaust: The Later Phase, 1939-1943

The Crystal Night Pogrom

Propaganda and Aryanization, 1938-1944

Jewish Emigration from 1933 to the Evian Conference of 1938

Jewish Emigration, 1938-1940: Rublee Negotiations and the Intergovernmental Committee

Jewish Emigration: The S.S. St. Louis Affair and Other Cases

Deportation of the Jews to the East: Stettin, 1940, to Hungary, 1944

Medical Experiments on Jewish Inmates of Concentration Camps

The Einsatzgruppen or Murder Commandos

The Wannsee Protocol and a 1944 Report on Auschwitz by the Office of Strategic Services

The "Final Solution" in the Extermination Camps and the Aftermath

The Judicial System and the Jews in Nazi Germany

Relief and Rescue of Jews from Nazi Oppression, 1943-1945

Relief in Hungary and the Failure of the Joel Brand Mission

Rescue to Switzerland: The Mussy and Saly Mayer Affairs

Punishing the Perpetrators of the Holocaust: The Brandt, Pohl, and Ohlendorf cases

Punishing the Perpetrators of the Holocaust: The Ohlendorf and Von Weizsaecker cases.

Rescue Efforts

United States and the Holocaust

Milton, Sybil, and Frederick D. Bogin, editors. American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, New York. New York: Garland, 1995. (Reference D 810 .J4 A735 1989 v.10) [ Find in a library near you]

Presents a representative sampling of the Holocaust-related holdings of the archives of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Includes facsimiles of 255 original documents including correspondence with government agencies, pamphlets, and reports, covering the committee's efforts on behalf of Jewish refugees (including the St. Louis passengers) during World War II and displaced persons after the war. Includes a glossary of individuals and organizations mentioned in the text along with a summary listing of the documents. Volume 10 of the Archives of the Holocaust series. [English]

Wyman, David S., editor. America and the Holocaust: A Thirteen-volume Set Documenting the Editor's Book The Abandonment of the Jews. New York: Garland, 1989-1991. (Reference D 810 .J4 W952 1988) [ Find in a library near you]

Compilation of original documentary materials used by David Wyman in writing his book The Abandonment of the Jews (New York: The New Press, 1998). Reproduces letters, newspaper articles, government documents, and other sources. [English]

Organized into thirteen volumes roughly corresponding to the chapters of the book, as follows:

Confirming the News of Extermination

The Struggle for Rescue Action

The Mock Rescue Conference, Bermuda

Barring the Gates to America

American Jewish Disunity

Showdown in Washington: State, Treasury, and Congress

War Refugee Board: Basic Rescue Operations

War Refugee Board, Hungary

War Refugee Board, Special Problems

Token Shipment (Oswego Camp). War Refugee Board "Summary Report"

War Refugee Board "Weekly Reports"

Bombing Auschwitz and the Auschwitz Escapees' Report

Responsibility for America's Failure.

War Crimes Trials

Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, 14 November 1945-1 October 1946. Buffalo, NY: William S. Hein, 1995. (JX 5437.3 .I58 1995) [ Find in a library near you]

Commonly known as the "Blue Series," volumes 1-22 provide the official English language text of the proceedings while volumes 25-42 reproduce the evidence presented during the trial. Subject, name, and document indexes can be found in volumes 23 and 24. NOTE: These volumes may be downloaded, in PDF format, from the Library of Congress's Military Legal Resources Web site. [English, German, and French]

Personal Accounts

Boder, David. I Did Not Interview the Dead. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1949. (D 804.195 .B634 1949) [ Find in a library near you]

Presents transcriptions of eight interviews Dr. Boder conducted with Holocaust survivors within two years of their liberation from the camps. Note: Transcriptions of over 70 of Dr. Boder's interviews can be found at the Voices of the Holocaust website, presented by the Illinois Institute of Technology. [English]

Niewik, Donald L., editor. Fresh Wounds: Early Narratives of Holocaust Survival. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998. (D 804.195 .F74 1998) [ Find in a library near you]

Collects edited and translated transcriptions of 36 interviews with survivors of the camps and ghettos conducted shortly after the war by Dr. David Boder. Note: Transcriptions of over 70 of Dr. Boder's interviews can be found at the Voices of the Holocaust website, presented by the Illinois Institute of Technology. [English]

Museum Web Resources

American Jewish Committee Archives
Interactive Web site documenting the work of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), including efforts to assist Jewish refugees fleeing Europe during World War II. Presents timelines, recordings of AJC radio broadcasts, historic films, television programs, and oral histories. Also includes the complete text of the American Jewish Year Books published after 1899.

The Avalon Project: The Nuremberg War Crimes Trials
A project of Yale Law School. Makes available in electronic format documents from the Nuremberg War Crimes trials. Provides full-text access to the multivolume sets of the Nuremberg trial proceedings and transcripts originally published by the International Military Tribunal. Includes translations of many important Holocaust-related documents, such as the Stroop Report, the Warsaw Protocol, and the Night and Fog Decree.

German Propaganda Archive
Collects reproductions and translations of propaganda materials created in Nazi Germany and the German Democratic Republic. Includes examples of antisemitic broadsides and cartoons, speeches by various Nazi leaders, and visual materials that promoted the National Socialist agenda. Created by a member of the faculty of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Online collection of electronic resources on the Holocaust and Holocaust denial and revisionism. Includes the reproduction of numerous primary source materials, detailed information on Nazi documents, and evidence presented at the Nuremberg Trials as a means of refuting Holocaust deniers and revisionists.

USHMM Library Bibliography: Diaries
Annotated bibliography featuring dozens of published diaries written before the war, in the ghettos, in hiding, and elsewhere under Nazi persecution. Includes references to secondary sources with information about Holocaust-related diaries.

USHMM Photo Archives Online Catalog
Provides access to approximately 15,000 of the nearly 100,000 images in the Museum's Photo Archives.

USHMM Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive
Presents footage drawn from the holdings of the Film and Video Archives, including film of the liberation of concentration camps, war crimes trials, Kristallnacht, the St. Louis, and Nazi speeches and propaganda.

Additional Resources

Subject Headings

To search library catalogs or other electronic search tools for published collections of primary sources on the Holocaust or related topics, use the following Library of Congress subject headings to retrieve the most relevant citations:

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)-Sources

World War, 1939-1945-Concentration camps-Sources

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)-Poland-Sources

See all Bibliographies

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The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum collects Holocaust-related materials in all formats, including original documents, photographs, film footage, music, and oral histories, as well as published materials such as books, periodicals, documentaries, and other resources. While selected items from the collection are available online, the vast majority of these items are only available for use onsite at the Museum.

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Pacific Theater Diary

Sergeant Joseph Steinbacher, U.S. Army, 169th Infantry, 43rd Infantry Division, 6th Division, served in New Guinea, New Caledonia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Japan. His journal "Nine Lives: The Journal of an American Soldier" describes in detail his survival of two years in the jungles of New Guinea, the invasion of the Philippines, and the occupation of Japan. The diary and photos were donated by Joseph Steinbacher. His title comes from this entry:

I lay down in my shallow trench and stared up at the evening sky. I had chopped through a nest of little red ants and they were really biting me. I mashed hundreds and finally got rid of most of them. I felt just like one of those little ants. If I didn't get killed in this damn war I would really need a lot of luck and probably some help from the almighty. I thought about a cat and how they are supposed to have nine lives. Well, if I had been a cat, I would probably have used up three of my nine lives already.

World War I Diary

Carol J. Albertson found the diary of Captain Harry B. Smith, 86th Division, 311th Ammunition Train, at a book sale. She bought the diary, transcribed it, and donated the diary to the Veterans History Project. In her letter, above, to staff member Jason Lee of the Veterans History Project, she describes how she contacted the Personnel Records Center in St. Louis to find more information on Harry B. Smith and, if possible, return the diary. However, Smith's records were destroyed in a fire in July, 1973. An excerpt from the diary for October 5, 1919, reads:

Blowing a terrific gale and whole convoy is lost. We are alone and rolling very dangerously. Water pouring over decks and can't walk or sit without holding on. Music room furniture and dishes are breaking. More men dying. 120 mile wind blowing and barometer very low. Waves at least 50 feet high. Some say 75 feet. Frightful weather. No ships in sight. We are lost. Captain can't get bearings and we are moving just enough to head into the waves.

A Time for Everything

Karen Mart-Taverna copied and bound the letters of her husband Larry Mart, Sergeant, U.S. Army, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry, 25th Division.

She included the letters and photographs with the following dedication:

For Larry, who came home to me because God was his point man, and for serving his country. For all Vietnam veterans, who also endured the atrocities of war.
Thank You

The cover of this volume, reproduced and enlarged, is shown here.

The opening shows two examples of Larry Mart's handwritten letters to his wife.

USS Alabama

Edward J. Suchy, Sr., served on "The Mighty A," the USS Alabama, as machinist mate third class. His ship is now a museum at Battleship Park in Mobile, Alabama. Suchy and other crew members contributed their stories to Rebecca Bundy Brown and Heidi Bundy Brown. The stories were published in the book, "The Mighty A" and the Men Who Made Her Mighty.

"The Mighty A" and The Men Who Made Her Mighty. Bound memoir. Edward J. Suchy, Sr. Collection, Veterans History Project, Library of Congress (98)

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From the Home Front and the Front Lines Diaries, Bound Collections, and Albums

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Sergeant Joseph Steinbacher, U.S. Army, 169th Infantry, 43rd Infantry Division, 6th Division, served in New Guinea, New Caledonia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Japan. His journal "Nine Lives: The Journal of an American Soldier" describes in detail his survival of two years in the jungles of New Guinea, the invasion of the Philippines, and the occupation of Japan.

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What was one thing really interested you from reading the primary source?

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Based on your Primary source, place your comment in the aproximate location where the individual had their experiences.