United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The Museum is in a race against time to rescue the evidence of the Holocaust, including home movies and amateur films taken before, during, and immediately after the Holocaust. These items provide insight into the lives of eyewitnesses whose documentation of world-changing events are at risk of being lost forever if these films are not located, preserved, and made accessible to future generations who study this history.

Our conservators are world-class experts at preserving film and artifacts, especially those that are fragile. Once artifacts are in our care, we are committed to digitizing and sharing them so people will learn from Holocaust history and honor its victims and survivors.

Learn more about what inspired one survivor to gift his home movies to the Museum and the opportunities his choice to donate offers for education and preserving memory.

The Museum's holdings of historical archival film and video collections are part of the Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive, generously supported by the Righteous Persons Foundation.

Interested in Contributing to Our Collection?

Contact a curator at 202.382.0220 or [email protected], or fill out our online form:

Wondering what types of artifacts we collect? See our list of common donations.

Highlights of Our Film Collection

After a donation becomes part of our holdings at the David and Fela Shapell Family Collections, Conservation and Research Center, we find innovative ways to share it with the public.

Eyewitness Account: Inside Germany’s Annexation of Austria

The Baker family was living abroad in March 1938. The footage Helen and her husband, Ross, captured of the Anschluss provides a personal view of this historical moment.

Rescuing Rare Footage of Jewish Life from 1934

Jewish American writer Robert Gessner traveled to Europe and the Middle East, where he filmed at least ten reels documenting Jewish life. In 2014, his son donated the film to the Museum.

Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive

Discover one of the world’s most comprehensive informational and archival resources for moving image materials pertaining to the Holocaust and World War II.

An Extraordinary Discovery through Film: “It’s Grandpa”

Marcy Rosen had never seen a photograph of her grandfather, Morry Chandler, as a young man. He is a Holocaust survivor, and all pictures from his childhood were lost or destroyed.

35 Years Later: New Discoveries from the Film “Shoah”

In his landmark film "Shoah," Claude Lanzmann used just a small fraction of the 230 hours of known footage, leaving out some of the most poignant insights from Holocaust survivors, witnesses, and perpetrators.

The de Groot Family Home Movies

Louis de Groot was the only member of his immediate family to survive the Holocaust. After liberation, he retrieved film footage his father had taken of their family before they separated and went into hiding.

Contact a curator at 202.488.2649 or [email protected], or fill out our online request form:

Share Your History

Preserve Films and Help Save Holocaust Evidence