New Digital Archive of Images of Pre-Holocaust Jewish Life in Eastern Europe Now Available Online

From the AP:

The International Center of Photography in New York and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday announced the joint creation of a digital database to facilitate access to photographer Roman Vishniac’s archive.
Vishniac was a Russian-born Jew who moved to Berlin in 1920. He documented the rise of Nazi power and its effect on Jewish life in Central and Eastern Europe.
The database includes all of Vishniac’s 9,000 negatives, most of which have never before been printed or published.

Direct to Background and Online Gallery From U.S. Holocaust Memorial and Museum
Direct to Complete Digital Archive (via International Center For Photography)
Learn More About the Collection and Partnership (via USHMM and ICP)

Together, the country’s premier photography institution and the nation’s leading Holocaust research and educational center developed an innovative digital database to facilitate unprecedented access to the archive, which includes 40,000 objects and spans more than six decades. Vishniac created some of the most enduring images of eastern European Jews immediately before the Holocaust and later pioneered techniques in photo microscopy.
ICP and the Museum invite scholars and students across a wide range of disciplines, families across generations, and members of the public to explore the archive, contribute their research and family stories, and help identify the people and places depicted in the images. The diverse perspectives brought together by this unique effort, and by the work of a dedicated group of internationally recognized scholars, have already yielded exciting discoveries.
“We believe this initiative represents a new model for digital archives, and we are excited to bring this collection to an even-wider audience,” said Mark Lubell, ICP’s executive director. “Our shared goal is to make the images available for further identification and research, deepening our knowledge of Vishniac’s work and the people and places he recorded in his images.”
“This project will introduce many people to one of the 20th century’s preeminent photographers while greatly increasing our understanding of his subjects,” said Michael Grunberger, director of collections at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “We are excited to be working with ICP to make Vishniac’s work accessible to new generations and hope that it inspires them to learn more about him and Holocaust history.”

The complete announcement also includes info about a new book and traveling exhibition.

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Digital Collections, Digital Preservation, News