The Wiener Holocaust Library has recently relaunched The Holocaust Explained, an educational resource that has been created to help learners understand the essential facts of the Holocaust, its causes and consequences.

It aims to answer questions that people most often want to ask in an accessible, reliable and engaging way. Designed with the British school curriculum in mind, the content is organised across nine clearly defined and easy-to-navigate topic areas. The Holocaust Explained includes hundreds of pages of content based on a wide variety of source material in the form of videos, images and text. It is managed by The Wiener Holocaust Library. The Library is the oldest archive of material on the Nazi era and the Holocaust in the world. It is Britain’s national Holocaust archive, and enjoys an international reputation as a leading centre of research and learning.

Start exploring here.

Credit/caption information:

1. An election poster supporting Adolf Hitler from the 1932 Reichspräsident elections. This poster plays on the German people’s fear of poverty and misery, presenting Hitler as a strong leader. Wiener Holocaust Library Collections.
2. This pamphlet, entitled ‘Stop Them Now – German Mass Murder of Jews in Poland’ was published by Szmul Zygielbojm, a Polish Jewish politician and refugee in September 1942. The pamphlet contains reports of the Nazi atrocities collected by the Polish underground movements and eyewitness reports from Polish citizens. Wiener Holocaust Library Collections.
3. The Wiener Holocaust Library’s founder, Dr Alfred Wiener, had three daughters: Mirjam (right), Eva (left) and Ruth (middle). In 1943, the three girls were imprisoned with their mother in Westerbork and were later deported to Bergen-Belsen in 1944. They were released on a rare prisoner exchange scheme in 1945. Wiener Holocaust Library Collections.
4. The Nuremberg Laws, enacted in September 1935, marked the escalation of Nazi persecution towards Jews. This drawing, created by a young girl in her school textbook, depicts the laws and the antisemitic definitions that were used. Wiener Holocaust Library Collections.
5. Alice Stern’s Jewish identification card from the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. These cards were issued to all Jews following the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. During the occupation, Alice was transported to the Łódź Ghetto on 31 October 1941 (as marked on the lower right hand page). Alice survived the war and immigrated to Britain. Wiener Holocaust Library Collections.