Holocaust Records

Researching Holocaust-Era Assets Records at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

The Holocaust-Era Assets web pages provide a better understanding of the record holdings of NARA relating to the looting, locating, recovering, and restituting Holocaust-Era assets. Substantive research interest in Holocaust-Era Assets began in 1996 with various issues related to Swiss dormant bank accounts and gold looted by Nazi Germany. Within several years interests expanded to include, among other things, looted cultural property (including books, archives, manuscripts, and Jewish communal property), looted art works, unpaid and unclaimed insurance policies, and issues surrounding slave and forced labor.

We responded to researcher interests by compiling and publishing a finding aid to relevant records at the National Archives at College Park and working with art provenance researchers to identify and microfilm key series of records. We also became actively involved in the implementation of the Nazi War Crimes Records Disclosure Act of 1998. This law required Federal agencies, including NARA, to review and recommend for declassification records relating to Nazi war crimes, Nazi war criminals, Nazi persecution, and Nazi looted assets. Overseeing this activity was The Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group (IWG).

The subject categories listed below cover a wide range of topics and provide various resources for researchers interested in conducting research relating to the Holocaust-Era assets.

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