This guide suggests resources and strategies for research on the Jewish Holocaust, which is the term used to refer to events which occurred in Europe during the years immediately leading up to and encompassing World War 2.  Under Nazi rule, Germany engaged in actions which resulted in the intentional deaths of 12 million people, of whom 6 million were Jews.  Referred to as the "Final Solution," this was a deliberate attempt to annihilate all of Europe's Jews.  The remaining 6 million victims came from other "undesirable" groups such as Gypsies, Poles, the Slavic peoples, the mentally ill, the mentally or physically handicapped, Communists, Labor Unionists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and others to whom those in power took a dislike.

Background Information  |  Facts & Figures  |  Find Articles  |  Find Books  |  Primary Sources  |  People  |  Key Dates  |  Organizations  |  Web Resources  |  Additional Resources 

Background Information (Overview Sources)

Encyclopedias and other reference works are an excellent place to start a research project or simply learn more about a particular topic.  They provide topic summaries, context, and bibliographies for further reading.

Holocaust and World War II Almanac  [2001]  (R 940.5318 H7392)
The Holocaust Encyclopedia  [2001]  (R 940.531803 H7411)
New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia  [1992]  (R 296.03 N42 1992)
Encyclopaedia Judaica  [1972]  (R 296.03 En19)
Encyclopedia of Jewish History  [1986]  (R 909.04924 En19)
The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust  [2001] 
    (R 940.04924 En195)
Encyclopedia of Genocide  [1999]  (R 364.15103 En195)

 

Use dictionaries, statistical works, atlases, handbooks and similar works to find and check facts about topics, people, or events.

Atlas of the Holocaust  [1993] (R 940.5318022 G374a)
Dictionary of the Holocaust  [1997]  (R 940.531803 Ep85d)
Historical Dictionary of the Holocaust  [1999]  (R 940.531803 F521h)
Holocaust Chronicle: A History in Words and Pictures   [2000]
   (Stacks 940.5318 H7416)
 

Search indexes, abstracts, and databases to find journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.  For a complete list of Kent Library's online indexes and databases, see the Find: articles page (http://library.semo.edu/find/articles.asp).

To find historical/source materials, such as newspaper and magazine articles written at the time of the Holocaust, use the following print sources:

Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1900+
   (Index/Abstracts area, main floor)
International Index to Periodicals, 1907 - 1965
   (Index/Abstracts area, main floor)
Social Science Index
    (Index/Abstracts area, main floor)
Social Science and Humanities Index
    (Index/Abstracts area, main floor)
New York Times Index, 1851+
   (Index/Abstracts area, main floor)
Official Index to the Times & The Times Index, 1906+
   (located in Index/Abstracts area, main floor; indexes the London Times)
Biography Index
   (Index/Abstracts area, main floor)
C.R.I.S.:  Combined Retrospective Index to Journals in History, 1838-1974
    (Index/Abstracts area, main floor)
C.R.I.S.:  Combined Retrospective Index to Journals in Political Science, 1886-1974
    (Index/Abstracts area, main floor)
 

To find recent articles and scholarly/peer-reviewed articles use the following online databases:

Academic Search Elite
Historical Abstracts  
JStor
Proquest Research Library
Project MUSE
Wilson Omnifile
 

Use the Kent Library Catalog (http://library.semo.edu/find/books.html) to find books, periodicals (journals, magazines, & newspapers), videos, government documents and other materials.

Keyword searches allow you to use your own words as search terms.
Subject heading searches use Library of Congress subject headings. Printed volumes of these headings are located near the Reference Desk on the main floor.

Holocaust subject headings include:

holocaust, jewish (1939-1945)
holocaust denial
holocaust survivors
holocaust victims
jewish children in the holocaust
righteous gentiles in the holocaust
world war, 1939-1945--jews
 

Browse the shelves by call number.  Use the Dewey Decimal chart (http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/fi_books_dd_list.htm) to get you in the right subject areas or try the following:

940.5318     Holocaust

Letulle, Claude J.  Nightmare Memoir:  Four Years as a Prisoner of the Nazis.    940.547243 L569n

Marks, Jane.  The Hidden Children:  The Secret Survivors of the Holocaust.    940.5318 M342h

Office of U. S. Chief Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality.  Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression.  8 volumes and Supplement A. W1.2:N23/volume

Tessler, Rudolph.  Letter to My Children:  From Romania to America Via Auschwitz.    940.5318094 T286l 

Stojka, Karl.  The Story of Karl Stojka:  A Childhood in Birkenau:  Exhibition at the Embassy of Austria, April 30 to May 29, 1992;  Catalogue.           Y3.H74:  2C 43/3

The Liberation of the Nazi Concentration Camps 1945:  Eyewitness Accounts of the Liberators.   Y 3.H 74/2: L 61

Trials of War Criminals Before Nuernberg Military Tribunals, Under Control Council Law no. 10, Nuernberg, October 1946-April 1949 15 volumes. 
Kent Library has volumes. 3, 5-15.    D102.8: volume

Trials of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal.     42 volumes.    W1.2:C86/volume

 

Learn about important people, such as authors, researchers & historical figures related to this topic or field.  Search as authors or as subject headings (last name first).

Elie Wiesel
Primo Levi
Anne Frank
Viktor Emil Frankl
Simon Wiesenthal

Heinrich Himmler
Reinhard Heydrich
Hermann Goring
Adolf Eichmann
Josef Mengele

Oskar Schindler
 

Key Dates

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Professional organizations and/or societies often provide very useful topic related information.

American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors
  mail@americangathering.org
Anne Frank Center USA
  http://www.annefrank.com
Association of Holocaust Organizations
  hrcaho@qcc.cuny.edu
Holocaust Documentation and Education Center
  http://www.firn.edu/doe/holocaust/history1.html
Simon Wiesenthal Center
  http://www.wiesenthal.com
U. S. Holocaust Memorial Council
  http://www.ushmm.org

remember.org (Cybrary of the Holocaust)
   http://www.remember.org
Holocaust History Project
   http://www.holocaust-history.org
Museum of Tolerance Online
   http://motlc.wiesenthal.org/index.html
Five Million Forgotten
  http://www.holocaustforgotten.com/index.html
The History PlaceHolocaust Timeline
   http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/timeline.html
The Holocaust\Shoah Page
  http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/holo.html
Holocaust Survivors
  http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/

 

For a list of Web searching tools, see the Find: web resources page (http://library.semo.edu/find/webpages.html).

STUDY PRINTS are collections of photographs, uniformly sized and printed on cardstock, which are published, along with a teachers guide, as instructional sets.  Kent Library has one such set addressing the Holocaust:

The Nazi Holocaust:  Series 1-2.          IM Study Prints 940.5318 D659