FAQs

Q: How many photographs are in Yad Vashem's Online Photo Archive? A: At present, there are approximately 130,000.  Yad Vashem will continue to expand its online archive in the months ahead.

Q: What subjects are included in the Archive? A: The photographs in the Archive focus primarily on (but not exclusively) Jewish life before, during and immediately after the Holocaust.

Q: Are there photographs in the Archive that relate also to WWII and to the Third Reich? A: Yes, actually there are many, but our primary focus is to collect and acquire photographs that relate specifically to the Holocaust.

Q: How can I obtain a copy of a photograph that appears in the Archive? A: See Ordering Copies of Photographs

Q: How can I send or donate personal photographs that might be of interest to Yad Vashem? Can I get them back afterwards? A: See Transfer/ Donation of Photographs to Yad Vashem. If you wish, you can receive them back after they have been scanned and uploaded to the online Archive.

Q: Where does the additional information about the photographs come from? Is it possible to send Yad Vashem information about a photograph already in the Archive? A: We try to give the public the widest information possible about every photograph in the Archive. Most of the information we have is given to us by the person who donated the photograph, but many times identifying details or other information is missing. If you recognize places, people or other details in the picture that are not recorded in the "title" or "additional information" fields, please contact us so we can update the information.

Q: How can I locate photographs that were transferred or donated to Yad Vashem by a family member?  A: The easiest way to locate a specific photograph is to search for the photograph's archival signature.  This number appears in the letter of acknowledgement sent by Yad Vashem to the donor of the photograph.  If you do not have the archival signature, you can search for the photograph by its source or the submitter's name.

Q: What is the resolution of the Archive photographs? A: The photographs are displayed at low resolution to enable quick downloading and to prevent unauthorized copying.  The scans have resolutions between 300 to 1,200 DPI, determined by each photograph's original size and format.

Q: How are the original copies of these photographs preserved? A: Photographs are stored in acid-free paper envelopes inside special climate-controlled storage rooms.  All of the Archive's photographs have been scanned, thereby protecting and preserving the originals.

Q: I searched for a photograph using the name of a relative who perished in the Holocaust, but I did not find what I was looking for. A: We suggest you check Yad Vashem's Shoah Victims' Names Database, where most of the information about Holocaust victims is recorded. Another option is that the deceased person appears in a group photograph. In this case, it is also worth searching for his/her name in the "additional information" field in the Photo Archive.

Q: Who photographed the pictures in the Archive? A: The photographs were taken by a variety of photographers, including Jews and non-Jews, amateurs and professionals.  In many instances, the identity of the photographer was determined by circumstance: most of the photos of persecutions were taken by German photographers; Allied photographers documented the liberation of the camps; and Jewish photographers, for the most part, documented Jewish life before the war and in the DP camps, as well as some of the ghetto experiences. Information regarding the identity of the photographer (where it exists) is included along with other archival information related to the photograph.