‘The Persecution of the Jews in photographs. The Netherlands 1940-1945’

by Adina Babesh

Sandra works for the Yad Vashem: E-Learning Department at the International School for Holocaust Studies. For EHRI she is involved in Training and Education (work package 4) as Project Manager of the Interactive EHRI Online Course in Holocaust Studies.

I believe that through education, the transmission of information, and the knowledge of facts and values, we can change people’s attitudes, world views, and behavior, thus enriching their lives and hopefully creating a more equal and tolerant world.

by Giles Bennett, Michał Czajka, Veerle Vanden Daelen

In September 1939, 3.3 million Jews lived in the Republic of Poland. In 1945, only 300,000 were still alive. Polish Jews were more than half of the victims of the Holocaust. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of Jews from all over Europe were taken to Poland to be killed there. Sources on the Holocaust in Poland are thus central to EHRI’s mission. Despite widespread destruction, countless sources do survive in the country itself as well as across the world. Although the task of gathering information about these holdings with its many different languages, source types, and archival systems is quite daunting, EHRI made it one of its priorities.

‘Berlin/London: The Lost Photographs of Gerty Simon’

EHRI Partner The Wiener Library’s summer exhibition displays the remarkable work of German Jewish photographer Gerty Simon, and features many of her original prints from the 1920s and 1930s.

By starting with a quote from the file of Leopold Berger, this blog post describes the history of the Austrian Concentration Camp Association as well as the collection of 15,000 files held by the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW).

The collection is a unique source for information on Holocaust survivors in Austria and also gives insight into the political situation in the immediate post-war period in Austria.

The latest EHRI Document Blog post by Christine Schmidt (Wiener Library) takes a close look at challenges in developing a “testimonial literacy” (in the words of Noah Shenker) for reading and interpreting early eyewitness accounts in the Library’s collection, particularly as they become more widely accessible through digital platforms and resources.

Adina Babesh works at the Belgian State Archives - Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Society. She is involved in EHRI Work Package 9 on Data Identification and Integration and Work Package 11 on Users and Standards.

A usual day starts for me early around 6-6:30am. I am by no means a morning person, but I prefer having a nice seat on the two trams, which take me to work, and I can enjoy reading a few pages from a good book. ‘Autour de ton cou’ (Adichie) is a favorite these days in an effort to improve my French!

Eurobarometer Survey on Antisemitism in Europe

Recently the European Fundamental Rights Agency, upon request of the European Commission, published the largest survey ever held among European Jews on their perception and experience of antisemitism. The Eurobarometer Survey on Antisemitism in Europe will serve as a basis for further fact-based policy making.

EHRI has conducted an international web survey to better understand how professional users such as archivists, librarians, curators, and information specialists use our services. These professionals are key users and stakeholders of EHRI, given their significant role in providing content for EHRI and their knowledge of Holocaust related materials available at their institutions.