Archive

The Archive of the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies (VWI) is comprised of several holdings and collections of varying provenance and with their own histories. It is thus of eminent value for numerous aspects and perspectives of Holocaust research – including for example both victim and perpetrator research. Additionally, the video testimonies accessible at the archive offer a thematic focus on forced migration (often due to persecution) and the lives of those affected after 1945.

Specifically, the VWI Archive comprises the collections of the Archive of the Association of Jewish Victims of the Nazi Regime (= Simon Wiesenthal Archive) from Simon Wiesenthal’s former offices in Linz and Vienna. This is augmented by the Holocaust-related historical holdings of the Archive of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde (Jewish Community Organisation, IKG) of Vienna, which have been housed and made accessible at the VWI in the framework of a loan agreement since 2018. Moreover, the VWI Archive offers on-site access to the video interviews of the Austrian Heritage Archive (AHA), the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, and the Video Archive of Refugee Voices.

Aside from further acquisitions, the VWI Archive aims to gradually digitise individual parts of the collections that are frequently requested and/or vulnerable from a conservationist standpoint. The archive endeavours moreover – in accordance with its thematic and archival focal points – to acquire further holdings such as private estates and other relevant collections.

Simon Wiesenthal Archive (SWA)
Archive Collection (SWA)
Archival Projekt: Early Wiesenthal
Archive of the IKG Vienna
Austrian Heritage Archive
Fortunoff Video Archive
Refugee Voices

Using the Archive / Contact Information

Effective from January 2020