The Holocaust: history, people, places and evidence
Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its allies and collaborators persecuted the Jews of Europe and murdered about six million of them. This site explains that history through the evidence it is reconstructed from: contemporary documents, testimony, data and the killing sites themselves.
Where to start
Four pages, read in this order, give the foundation for everything else on the site.
- What Was the Holocaust?The chronology, victims, perpetrators and mechanisms of persecution and murder, and how we know what happened.
- Holocaust TimelineKey events from the Nazi rise to power through liberation, the Nuremberg trials and the postwar years.
- Evidence, Documentation and StatisticsHow victim totals are reconstructed, which records survived, and why some estimates differ.
- Holocaust Sources, Archives and Research DatabasesResearch institutions, archives, name databases and digital collections to continue from.
Explore the site
- TopicsExplore Holocaust history by major themes, from persecution and deportation to mass murder, resistance, rescue and evidence.12 entries
- PlacesExplore ghettos, killing centers and mass-killing sites as connected historical landscapes.16 entries
- CountriesExplore Holocaust history by country and wartime political jurisdiction.10 entries
- Jewish CommunitiesExplore communities as living societies before following their persecution and destruction.8 entries
- PeopleBiographies connect Holocaust history to the decisions, experiences and records of identifiable individuals.7 entries
- DocumentsPrimary documents show how Holocaust history is reconstructed from laws, reports, transport records and victim-generated evidence.6 entries
- Postwar Jewish LifeLiberation did not end the consequences of the Holocaust. Explore displacement, return, migration and rebuilding.5 entries
- Testimony LibraryA curated gateway to survivor testimony from authoritative institutional collections.4 entries
- MapsHistorical maps help readers understand occupation, ghettos, deportations, killing sites and postwar movement.3 entries
Researching a person or family?
Tracing an individual usually means combining variant spellings, place names, deportation records, Pages of Testimony, camp lists and archival databases. The guide explains how to begin and how to avoid conclusions the surviving evidence does not support.
About the sources used here
The site prioritizes institutional and primary sources, including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Yad Vashem, Arolsen Archives and official memorial and archival collections. Where a number or interpretation is uncertain, the page says so. Linking to a source does not transfer reuse rights to the item.
Common questions
What was the Holocaust?
The systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million European Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies and collaborators.
When did the Holocaust begin?
Major institutions such as USHMM use 1933, when Hitler and the Nazis came to power, as the beginning of the Holocaust era. Systematic mass murder expanded decisively in 1941.
Was Auschwitz the only killing center?
No. The five principal killing centers were Chełmno, Bełżec, Sobibór, Treblinka and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Were all Jews murdered in gas chambers?
No. Jews were murdered in mass shootings, gas vans, ghettos, camps, forced labor, death marches and through deliberate starvation, disease and abuse.