Documentation of the Central Historical Commission (CHC) of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the American Occupied Zone, Munich

The Central Historical Commission in Munich began collecting historical documentation in Germany in December 1945. Much work was invested in involving Jewish survivors of concentration camps in Germany in the collection activity, and the response was great. It could be that the survivors' response was an expression of their spontaneous desire to perpetuate the memories of those who perished and document the terrors of the Holocaust.

The 50 CHC branches established in the American Occupied Zone in Germany filled an important role. Indeed, much documentation arrived at the CHC in Munich via these branches. After three years of concerted activities in collecting the documentation, the CHC was closed and all its collections were transferred to Yad Vashem.

The CHC Archives contain thousands of German documents, mainly related to the extermination of German Jewry, as well as a collection of over 1,000 photographs regarding Jewish life under the Nazi regime in Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary and the Soviet Union.

The collection also contains a few films regarding the German invasion of Poland, among them a documentary film concerning anti-Jewish propaganda and defamation of the Jews, and a film regarding the destruction of synagogues in Munich.

There is valuable documentation in a special section of the collection devoted to memoirs and 2,550 testimonies from Jews who lived under the Nazi regime, including testimonies of children and documents written by children, as well as various questionnaires.

In 1947 the CHC in Munich prepared a special questionnaire regarding the history of the destruction of Jewish communities, and 652 replies were received, mainly regarding communities in Poland and Lithuania. The committee also prepared a more general questionnaire in order to receive statistical data concerning the destruction, and close to 8,000 answers were received.

Special significance is attributed to the questionnaires completed by the German Landraeten (senior district officers) and mayors. The purpose of the questionnaires was to check the number of concentration camps in Germany, the reasons for their establishment and the number of Jews in the camps. An additional goal was to obtain exact statistics regarding the Jews of Germany who perished. The Commission sent the questionnaires to the senior district officers and mayors, and the questionnaires were returned with detailed answers. However, only a portion of the questionnaires came back from the Soviet Occupation Zone with the answers requested. Thus, important documentation was received from German sources regarding the extermination of the Jews of Germany and the concentration camps that had not been known until that time.

A unique subsection consists of 423 questionnaires regarding children compiled in the Foehrenwald DP camp (by UNRRA and the Vaad Hatzala [Relief and Rescue Committee] in Germany). The suffering of the Jewish children under the Nazi regime is reflected in the children's answers to the questionnaires.

In another subsection there is invaluable documentation of hundreds of poems and songs written in the ghettos and concentration camps in Poland and Lithuania, and in concentration camps in Romania and Germany. The melodies of some of the songs of the ghettos and the camps, numbering 78 items, have been transcribed in musical notes, and some of the tunes have been recorded on 44 records.

In a different subsection there is rich documentation regarding the She’erith Hapletah in Germany, as well as newspapers from all the ideological movements, political parties and youth movements.