Historians, where are some good places that I can donate pictures of victims of the Holocaust? They are starting to mold and I do not want a tragic but important part of history to be lost.

by ncc1113

My uncle passed these pictures down to me years ago. We have done our best to keep the mold away but it keeps growing. I am obviously not able to preserve them and do not want to damage them. I was hoping that there were some places were these photos might do some good while being preserved. The family story behind them is that my Great Uncle took them off of a dead German Officer sometime during WWII. Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions!

khowaga

One of the Holocaust museums (either the big one in DC or one of the regional ones) would be good places to start. The National Holocaust Memorial Museum even has “artifact donation” as one of the categories on their contact form.

PeculiarLeah

The suggestions above are both really good, because of the Coronavirus getting in contact with museums may be difficult for a time, but I can definitely suggest some at home things you can do until you can get them into an archive.

  1. Keep them somewhere with low humidity and below 75F 2.make copies of the photos/scan them into your computer so long as they are not crumbling 3.don’t store them in boxes in attics or basements/garages as the humidity is variable
  2. Store them in an archival quality box or photo album, these can be purchased online and should be labeled “acid free” and “lignin free”
  3. You can also put them in stable plastic sleeves- this is especially important if they are getting crumbly- photo safe sleeves can be purchased online, I’d suggest looking at B&H Photo, and to look for plastic sleeves described as archival sleeves and made from polyester, polyethylene, or polypropylene.
  4. Keep them out of direct sunlight or electric light
  5. Wash your hands before handling them to get all the oils off your hands, but you don’t need to use gloves Good luck!