Second World War researchers as well as those looking to better understand atrocities
committed in places like Rwanda and Sudan will soon have access to one of the world's
leading Holocaust and resistance archives – and all they'll need is an internet
connection.

The McMaster Library's collection of materials related to the Holocaust, European
resistance groups and Second World War propaganda is being digitized as part of a
project that will give scholars and students access to thousands of original documents
dating from 1933 to 1945. The collection includes books, posters, magazines,
newspapers and air-drop leaflets, and though it is exclusive to the Second World War
era, University Librarian Jeff Trzeciak says that the archive is very applicable to the
modern world.

“The Holocaust collection represents a uniquely horrific period in human history, but
it's also very relevant to understanding more recent global events,” he said. “The
archive is being digitized not only for research but so that Holocaust education can be
expanded throughout the world.”

The collection includes a number of rarities, such as a diary of the Nazi evacuation
from a women's concentration camp as well as a handmade recipe book exchanged
between camp prisoners. Much of the collection is made up of letters to or from
prisoners in infamous camps such as Dachau, Buchenwald and Auschwitz, as well as
Gestapo prisons and prisoner of war camps. In some cases the collection houses more
than 20 letters written by the same person, an uncommon feature in a collection where
often only a single letter survives.

Documents from McMaster's collection of underground resistance materials, including
papers on prisoners and deportations as well as songs and poems from prisoners, will
also be digitized.

“The tragic, historical record of the Holocaust and its victims and resisters should never
be forgotten,” said Carl Spadoni, director of McMaster's William Ready Division of
Archives and Research Collections. “This digitization project shows that the Library is
serious about its commitment to make these unique materials available on a global
basis.”