Personalizing the Past: Researching family histories with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Over the years, many students and community members have approached Cohen Institute staff members with questions about how they can get started with research into family members who were affected by the Holocaust. This event will feature Susan Evans, Ed.D., a Research and Reference Specialist at the David M. Rubenstein National Institute for Holocaust Documentation at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Susan will present an overview of the Museum’s Research Services, including background information about the Bad Arolsen archives, examples of digitized documentation, and how individual inquiries regarding victims who perished – and those who survived – are processed. She will also explain how those who wish to initiate such research can submit a personal inquiry. Our conversation will also reveal what the Museum’s Research Services team has found while doing research on behalf of one of our local community members here in New Hampshire as an example of how this process can unfold.

Speaker Bio:
Dr. Susan Evans has served as a volunteer at USHMM since 2011 and has worked with the Research and Reference team since 2016. She is a 2-Gen (the daughter of Holocaust survivors). Prior to moving to the D.C. area, she was a teacher, curriculum supervisor, and assistant principal in a suburban Philadelphia school district.

Registration:
This virtual event, held in recognition of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, is hosted by the Cohen Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies in partnership with the KSC Archives and the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire. It is open to everyone, but we ask that those interested in attending please register for the webinar in advance. Registration is available here.

Additional Note:
If you would like to submit your own research inquiry to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Resource Center in advance of this event, please fill out this form. You will need to complete a separate submission for each individual about whom you are requesting information. Once you have submitted the form, you will receive an automated case number. To expedite your request, please send that case number to Dr. Susan Evans at sevans[at]ushmm.org with a note telling her that you will be attending the Cohen Institute’s January event so that she may retrieve your case from the research queue -- otherwise, the wait time can be a year or longer. Research requests often take months’ worth of work, so the sooner that you can submit your request the more likely that you will receive a response before this event takes place in January.

This event is part of the Cohen Center calendar.