The “record of the Holocaust” has been scattered to virtually every country and is massive, reflecting the enormity of the crime and its implications. Some of this evidence is endangered, access is more often than we think a problem, and the dispersal of materials hinders expedient and productive use by researchers, survivors, and the broader public. As the distinguished scholar Professor Raul Hilberg estimated, roughly 80 percent of Holocaust records remain underutilized or unknown. Some collections – such as trial records of the perpetrators of the Holocaust – remain classified or restricted, and thus unavailable to individual researchers. Collecting, preserving, and making available evidence of the Holocaust is one of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s highest priorities.
Lecture at conference ZUGANG GESTALTEN! Mehr Verantwortung für das kulturelle Erbe (SHAPE ACCESS! More responsibility for cultural heritage) that took place under the German Unesco patronage in Berlin 2018.