The resources of the Documentation Centre cover the history of the Second World War and that of the Jews of France in the 20th century. By the richness of its sources, this fund constitutes a unique archive and an instrument of first order to study the destruction of European Jews.
Since 1945, most of the research on this subject has been done in the archives of the Documentation Centre, consulted by historians and journalists alike. French and international justice also drew heavily from the archives of the center to investigate the Nuremberg trials, those of those responsible for the "Final Solution", up to the Barbie trial.
This exceptional documentary fund, regularly enriched since the creation of the Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation in 1943 by donations and acquisitions of documents from witnesses of the Shoah, consists of archives of more than 30 million items, a photo library with some 320,000 images, a rich library of 50,000 references, and 14,000 archival films (including 2,500 testimonies) and 1,500 sound archives.
The cataloging and digitization of collections have enabled the Shoah Memorial to acquire a powerful computerized research tool that allows it to respond precisely to the expectations of researchers as well as to the questions of families. All the databases constituting the catalogue are accessible in the reading room of the Shoah Memorial.
The reading room is accessible to anyone who can justify a search on presentation of an identity card, after filling out an annual registration form. Two rooms equipped with 12 computer stations, 4 microform reader-reproducers and 55 workplaces are available to researchers.
The collections of the Shoah Memorial / Centre for Contemporary Jewish Documentation (CDJC) are accessible via various research tools: the computerized catalog, the paper files, and inventories.
The documents are consulted exclusively on site, in the reading room according to the modalities specific to each medium (microfilm, digital or original material).
On Thursday evenings, Sundays, public holidays and Jewish holidays, only reserved documents are communicated.
Since the photographic documents are digitized, no original document is communicated unless specifically authorized. In this case, readers are advised to wear protective gloves for consultation and not to remove the photographs from their pouch.
Also available in open access are the inventories and finding aids of archive centres and libraries with complementary holdings, as well as many standard ones.
Prior to their visit, researchers may contact the Centre’s documentalists in order to guide their research:
By mail:
By fax:
By email:
Rules of procedure for the reading room (PDF)
