Explore the collections

The collections at the Swedish Holocaust Museum continue to grow as new objects, photographs, and stories are added. You can explore the collections digitally through our database or by booking a visit in advance.

One way to explore the museum’s collections and archives is through our digital database. Here, you can search for information about items in the collections and browse images of objects, as well as scanned copies of documents and photographs from the archives. We are continually working to expand the information available about our collections and archival materials.

We also welcome researchers, students, and others who wish to view materials in person at the museum.

Search the Collections

Our collection is digitized, and we are constantly working to enrich the information about our objects and to increase the number of images. You can search among the images and objects already available in our online database. All information is free to use, and most of the media is licensed under open Creative Commons licenses. Some images depict copyright-protected works; through an extended collective license agreement with Bildupphovsrätt in Sweden (BUS), the National Historical Museums have the right to display these images on Search the Collections.

We share the database with the other museums that are part of the National Historical Museums. Therefore, you will find objects from the Economy Museum, the Hallwyl Museum, the Swedish History Museum, the Royal Armoury, Skokloster Castle, the Tumba Paper Mill Museum, and the Swedish Holocaust Museum in the database.

Start searching in our database

Would you like to visit our collections and archives?

It is possible to arrange a visit to view an object or archival material that interests you. Please get in touch to book an appointment. Let us know what you would like to see, and we will get back to you shortly with more information about what to expect during your visit.

Please note that there may be a waiting period, so we recommend getting in touch well in advance, preferably at least two weeks ahead of your planned visit.

Email: samlingar@museumforintelsen.se

Are you looking for traces of relatives who were affected by the Holocaust?

You are welcome to contact us for assistance with archival research. If you speak Swedish, we encourage you to start by searching our digital database, which is available in Swedish.

Start searching in our database

Other places to continue your search:

At the Swedish National Archives (Riksarkivet), you can request records relating to people who came to Sweden.

EHRI provides a directory of archives and databases related to the Holocaust.

The Arolsen Archives holds the world’s most comprehensive archive on the victims of Nazi persecution.

Yad Vashem has an extensive database of names.

Lund University Library holds a large collection of written testimonies from 1945.

During an in-person visit to the Swedish Holocaust Museum, you can access testimonies from the USC Shoah Foundation. Learn more about the museum’s digital archive station.

Donate to the collections

Do you or a relative have a personal story connected to the Holocaust that you would like the museum to preserve? Please get in touch.

About Donations

Museum staff looking at photographs together with a donor. — Photo: Jens Mohr, The Swedish Holocaust Museum/SHM

Loans from the collections

The museum is part of the government agency, the National Historical Museums (SHM), who manage a significant number of loans from the collections. We lend to exhibitions in Sweden and around the world.

Loans Policy at the agency website

Staff wearing gloves adjusting an object in a display case — Photo: Jens Mohr, The Swedish Holocaust Museum/SHM

Stories from our collection

Otto’s toy dog

Otto was 13 years old when he left Vienna and saw his parents for the last time. On the train he brought with him a small suitcase of clothes, the Vienna telephone directory and a black toy dog.

Cecilia’s sewing box

On July 7, 1945, one of the White boats arrived in Sweden: the ship M/S Kronprinsessan Ingrid. On board were Cecilia Czilli Mendelovitz and her sister Magda. The Mendelovitz sisters grew up in the town of Farkasrév, today’s Vadu Izei in Romania. During the war, Cecilia was in Buchenwald, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps.

Last letter

The last letter from Anna Posner to her son Ludwig is preserved in the museum's collection. Here you can take part of the letter and read more about Ludwig, his mother Anna and father Sigfried.

The Nina and Fardi Kwiek archive

Nina Kwiek was born in Poland just as the war began. Her family tried to escape the Nazis and spent the war in hiding. Her collection of newspaper clippings, along with interviews with her children, is now part of the museum’s collections.

The Rothschild's Coffee Set

Read the story of the Rothschild family coffee set and how the family got it back.