Archive

The archival holdings are essentially characterized by collected material. Documents donated to the memorial primarily by former inmates and their relatives form the core. Our holdings include:

• memoirs
• correspondence
• personal bequests and estates
• personal collections of material
• maps and plans
• fragments from the SS administration of the Buchenwald concentration camp
• material collections related to individual persons (mixed provenance)
• material collections from research and exhibition projects
• reproductions of administrative files of the concentration camp command headquarters from foreign archives, including "change and [inmate] count reports", "protective custody camp reports", transport lists
• reproductions of documents from post-war trials
• reproductions of administrative files of the Soviet Special Camp No. 2 Buchenwald camp administration
• collection of newspaper clippings

Selected holdings can be searched in the following archive portals:

The archive also serves as the administrative archive of the former Buchenwald National Memorial of the German Democratic Republic as well as the current foundation. The holdings of the administrative archive document the range of the memorial’s activities in the areas of administration, commemoration, education, and outreach from its beginnings to the present. It contains, among other things:

• minutes of meetings and consultations
• correspondence
• concept papers
• reports
• annual plans

The archive’s core responsibilities are:

• to collect archival materials on the history of the historical Buchenwald site on an ongoing basis in order to preserve them and secure them for posterity
• to index the archived sources in keeping with professional standards in order to make them accessible to a broad public
• to support scientific research and citizens’ initiatives in the field of historical education
• Within the scope of its possibilities, the archive provides information pertaining to persons and objects.

The majority of the extant Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp files are now in the holdings of the Arolsen Archives, International Center on Nazi Persecution (formerly International Tracing Service) in Bad Arolsen. In the Arolsen Archives’ Online Archive you can view, print, and download the original documents:

If you have questions or comments beyond the documents in Arolsen, please fill out the contact form below. Alternatively, you can send an e-mail to the contact address shown in the box on the left. Please provide us with as much information as possible about the person you are looking for. The more information we receive, the greater the chance of a successful search.

The records of the former camp registry of the Buchenwald concentration camp form the basis of our information for the concentration camp period. The original source material is held in the Arolsen Archives, International Center on Nazi Persecution in Bad Arolsen, Hesse.

In the online archive of the Arolsen Archives, you can research, view, and download the original documents yourself. The Arolsen Archives e-guide provides explanations of the individual documents.

If you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us. Please use the contact form below.

Alternatively, you can send an e-mail to the above contact address. Please provide us with as much information as possible about the person you are looking for. The more information we receive, the greater the chance of a successful search.

The archive is open to camp survivors and their relatives, scholars, students, school pupils, and persons interested in history. Access to the archival materials stored here is possible only after prior written registration. The provisions of the user regulations and schedule of fees for the archives of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation apply.