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Genealogy Guide: Resources at the Center for Jewish History

Archival Materials

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) Collection: The bulk of this collection consists of the German case files of the JDC, 1933-1941, dealing with individuals' attempts to emigrate. AR 7196

German Minority Census of 1939: Although it was officially a census of all “non-German” minorities living in German territory, it predominantly targeted Germany’s Jewish population.  It is an invaluable source of information on Jewish individuals who resided in Germany on the eve of the Holocaust. The Leo Baeck Institute has a copy of the entire census on microfilm.* MF 466
*A detailed inventory of this microfilm collection is available here.

Library Materials

Boberach, Heinz, et. al. Quellen zur deutschen politischen Emigration, 1933-1945. [Sources on German Political Emigration, 1933-1945]. Muenchen ; New Providence: K.G. Saur, 1994.* Reading Room  Z 5140 Q45 1994
* You may search for a name in this book in the database “National Socialism, Holocaust, Resistance, and Exile 1933-1945” (available on-site at the Center for Jewish History only).

Gedenkbuch: Opfer der Verfolgung der Juden, 1933-1945.  [Memorial Volume: Victims of the Persecution of the Jews, 1933-1945]. Koblenz: Bundesarchiv, 2006.* A listing of German Jews who were deported from Germany and perished during the Holocaust. Reading Room  DS 135 G33 G381
* The Bundesarchiv maintains a searchable online database of names in the Gedenkbuch (with ongoing updates)

Röder, Werner, et. al. Biographisches Handbuch der deutschsprachigen Emigration nach 1933. [International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Emigres, 1933-1945]. Muenchen: New York: K. G. Saur, 1980.*  Reading Room  CT 1053 B56*
*You may search for a name in this book in the database “National Socialism, Holocaust, Resistance, and Exile 1933-1945” (available on-site at the Center for Jewish History only).

Spalek, John M., and Sandra H. Hawrylchak. Verzeichnis der Quellen und Materialen der deutschsprachigen Emigration in den USA seit 1933. [Guide to the Archival Materials of the German-Speaking Emigration to the United States after 1933]. Charlottesville: University of Virginia, 1978. Reading Room  E 184 .G3 S68

Contact Information

Address:
Leo Baeck Institute 
15 West 16th Street,
New York, NY 10011

Phone: (212) 744-6400
E-mail Form: lbi.org/ask

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