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Our Library

The thousands of books housed in the MHM’s multilingual collection cover the rise of Nazism and World War II as well as post-Holocaust analyses.

The library offers research space for the casual visitor and researchers. Computer terminals give access to the library catalogue, MHM Collections online, and The Shoah Foundation Holocaust Survivor Testimonies.

Recent additions to the library include prose and books written by Melbourne survivors, copies of reports and papers presented at selected Holocaust-related conferences, journals, periodicals and booklets from other museums and research centres around the world. Journals and documents are available in a number of languages including Hebrew, Yiddish, French, English, German, Hungarian, Russian and Polish.

A range of resources is available to assist people researching their family history or planning a visit to Poland, such as maps, reference material and population data. A selection of Yizkor books (commemorative books of places and people) written in memory of those who were murdered, provides descriptions of once-thriving Jewish communities of Europe that have since disappeared. Another section of the library contains volumes listing the names of ghetto inmates as well as registers of survivors compiled after the war.

Rare or significant original books and paper records are housed separately from the general library in environmentally controlled conditions that ensure their preservation. The MHM also holds copies of local publications, articles and newspaper clippings covering events run by the Holocaust centre and video recordings and photographs of functions, book launches, Holocaust commemorations and other special events. Access to these items can be obtained by appointment with the MHM.

The MHM Library is linked to the Jewish Community Library Network, which combines the collections of the Lamm Jewish Library of Australia (formerly Makor Library) with those of six other Melbourne Jewish libraries. The online catalogue can be accessed at the MHM’s library or on the internet.

Research support

Our library team can also provide Holocaust family tracing assistance in sourcing and evaluating resources and specialists.

The MHM Library also offers digital streaming access to the USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive (VHA). The VHA’s collection holds more than 54,000 video testimonies of survivors and witnesses of genocide from around the world.

Enquiries and bookings can be made by phoning the Library on (03) 9528 1985 or email our librarian JuliaR@jhc.org.au