Holocaust Centre North is based at the University of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. The Centre promotes Holocaust education through the lived experiences of Holocaust survivors and refugees. It is part of the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association (HSFA), a charity originating in 1996 to support Holocaust survivors and refugees in Leeds.

Archive Description

The Holocaust Centre North Archive has a growing collection of material relating to the history and activities of the charity as well as personal papers of Holocaust refugees and survivors who have made the North of England their home.

From cocktail shakers to correspondence, telegrams to travel documents, photographs to filmed testimonies, the Centre preserves and safeguards these individual stories and rare materials for future generations and makes them available for education and research.

The Centre actively collects physical and digital records, including:

• Material up to the end of the Second World War
• Records which tell the story of survivors and refugees post-war, e.g., naturalisation or compensation papers
• Recorded testimonies (video and audio)
• Original documents, e.g., passports, certificates, ID papers
• Correspondence, e.g., letters and postcards
• Photographs
• Objects – the toys, household items and mementos on display really help bring the history to life

Research Strengths

The collections are a rich resource for educators, creative practitioners, and researchers of Holocaust history. Collection themes include: 

• Jewish life in pre-war Europe
• Impact of the Nuremberg Laws
• Emigration attempts, migration routes
• Kindertransport and child refugees
• Internment as enemy aliens in Britain
• Ghetto and camp experiences, slave labour
• Liberation and displacement
• Making a new life in the North of England
• Culture shock and assimilation
• Faith and identity
• Intergenerational relationships and trauma
• Memorialisation, post-memory

Access Information

The permanent exhibition is open to the public for free. The Archive is accessible to the public by appointment, please contact: collections@hud.ac.uk Opening times are Monday to Thursday 10.00-16.00.

Online Accessibility

The collections are being developed through preservation, cataloguing, and digitisation so that they will be more accessible for different audiences. Descriptions for 70 of the 130+ personal paper collections are available via an online catalogue as part of the National Archives and the Holocaust Centre North website features a selection of survivor stories and photographs.

Street Address

Schwann Building Level 2
The University of Huddersfield
Huddersfield
HD1 3DH