Family History | Jewish LifeOnly online Hesped.org Hesped.org is an online archive collecting material on Jewish funerals and mourning customs. Archive Description Hesped.org is a growing collection of eulogies (hespedim) delivered at Jewish funerals and during the traditional seven day mourning period (the shiva), as well as during some stone settings. It was created to collect the stories of ordinary and extraordinary lives through this unique and powerful medium. The archive hopes to expand its collection and is currently collecting hespedim. More information on collection policies can be found on their website, and the archive can be contacted by emailing contact@hesped.org. Online Accessibility The archive can be found online, accessible for free, and with a built in search function. https://hesped.org
Communal Records | Family History | Holocaust | Immigration | Jewish Life | Local HistoryPartially online Jewish History Association of Wales / Cymdeithas Hanes Iddewig Cymru A portrait of Rabbi Asher Grunis, born in Poland in 1877 who became the first communal Rav of Cardiff in 1921 until his death in 1937 • Jewish History Association of Wales The Jewish History Association of Wales/Cymdeithas Hanes Iddewig Cymru (previously the Jewish History Association of South Wales/Cymdeithas Hanes Iddewig De Cymru) has created a digital collection, hosted on the People’s Collection Wales platform. Its collection covers a wide range of topics documenting the cultural heritage of Jewish communities in South Wales. As of 2025, the charity has embarked upon collecting and documenting the stories of Jewish communities across the whole of Wales, building up a full picture of those who once made Wales their home. Archive Description The Jewish History Association of Wales/Cymdeithas Hanes Iddewig Cymru collection currently contains images, sound clips from oral histories, and presentations about the rich heritage of historic Jewish communities, majoritively in south Wales, but the collection is ever expanding. We celebrate the large, active Jewish communities found across Wales in the early part of the twentieth century and chart the slow but seemingly inevitable decline to where they find themselves today. The digital content comes from material JHAW/CHIC has discovered (and in some cases rescued from imminent destruction or disposal), material contributed by local synagogues and Jewish organisations, and material from individual members of the community. The scanned documents range from official minute books of congregations, minutes of Jewish social, youth and sports organisations, to newspaper clippings from the local press. They include correspondence about the creation and management of Jewish cemeteries and the lack of provision of kosher food for prisoners during the First World War. Sound clips from some of the 127 interviews with people from the last generation to live and work in these communities, share memories that would otherwise have been lost. Photographs of people and places long gone are now preserved for posterity. So far, JHAW/CHIC has uploaded over 3,973 files, which make up over 1,295 single and multipage items. They intend to continue to add to this collection in the belief that it will help illuminate the major contribution Jews have made to the south Wales area, and in time to the whole of Wales. The majority of original documents have been deposited with local Archives and Record Offices including Glamorgan Archives. Digital Accessibility The collection is available to the public with no access limitations, under a Creative Commons license. Additional information about the project and links to the archive on People’s Collection Wales can be found on the JHAW/CHIC website. https://www.jhasw.com
Communal Records | Family History | Historical Documents | Jewish LifeOnly online We Were There Too British Jews in the First World War – We Were There Too is a digital project created to capture, save and share the story of Britain’s Jews in the First World War Project Description We Were There Too celebrates the lives of both Jewish soldiers and citizens on the home front, providing historical context to key events and centering on the Jewish experience of the period. The archive is active and adding material on a weekly basis. It includes some 2,500 personal records and 90 History Windows which relate different aspects of British Jewish life at this time. The site also hosts some 50 collections from Institutions and private collections, with in excess of 15,000 images. Digital Accessibility The project is fully available online, for free, with searchable collections including the only open, digital source of the 1922 Jewish Book of Honour, as well as records and personal accounts of Jewish combatants in the First World War. For more information the archive can be contacted by emailing cntactus@jewfww.uk https://www.jewsfww.uk
Commercial | Communal Records | Family History | Local History | ReligionNot online Merseyside Jewish Community Archive at Liverpool Record Office The Merseyside Jewish Community Archive, collected by the Merseyside Jewish Representative Council, is housed at Liverpool Record Office in Liverpool Central Library. Archive Description Liverpool Record Office holds the archives of the Merseyside Jewish Community from the mid 18th century to the present day. The records are of tremendous significance as the Liverpool community is considered to be the first organised Jewish community in the north of England, and until the mid-19th century it was the largest Jewish community outside of London. Liverpool’s Jewish community established their first synagogue around 1745 and there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the city since then. The archive holdings reflect the vibrancy and activity of the community which has contributed to Merseyside life and national and international organisations. The Jewish archive is also one of the largest community collected archives held in the Liverpool Record Office. In 2025, it was the 50-year anniversary of when the community first started depositing documents to the Central Library in 1975. One of the most extensive collections in the Merseyside Jewish Community Archives is the records of the Old Hebrew Congregation. The earliest archive of a Jewish organisation in Liverpool is found in this collection, namely the ‘Register Book of the Jews in Liverpool’ which records births, deaths and marriages from 1804 to 1816. The register also includes retrospective information on members of the community from as early as 1722. The 1789 indenture also provides the full history of the development of the Upper Frederick Street synagogue and burial ground. The records of the Old Hebrew Congregation capture the development of the community from the 18th century and give an insight into the life of many of the early members of the Liverpool Jewish Community. In 2024-2025 a funded joint project of Merseyside Jewish Representative Council and Liverpool City Council’s Libraries Service took place to sort, catalogue, preserve, and make available to the public additional material that has accumulated in the community over the last 20 years. The collection now celebrates 280 years of the history of the Liverpool community. The goals of the MJRC as regards their archive are to act as a facilitator between the community and the local authority and to represent civic, cultural and religious Jewish communities in Merseyside. The archive now consists of around 200 collections, mostly representing an organisation: a synagogue, welfare, professional, philanthropic, social, cultural, or political group. Access Information The Archive is open to the public and can be accessed through the public search room in Liverpool Central Library. Opening times are available on their website. Readers will need to be a member of Liverpool Libraries and can join on the day with proof of address. We require at least two days’ notice for access to the collections. Requests for access and information can be made to: archives@liverpool.gov.uk. Online Accessibility The archive catalogue is available online. Street Address Liverpool Central LibraryWilliam Brown Street,Liverpool,L3 8EW Jewish archives – Liverpool City Council Liverpool Wedding Photo The Clumpus, Finestone & Bennet families • Merseyside Jewish Community Archive Galkoff’s Kosher Butcher Original Family Butcher’s Shopfront • Liverpool Museum 9 Aug 2024 Collection Encounter: Liverpool Record Office Collection Encounter: Liverpool Record Office
Commercial | Family History | Historical Documents | Holocaust | ImmigrationPartially online The National Archives The National Archives are the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, located in Kew, South West London. They hold documents covering every aspect of Jewish life in Britain. Archive Description The National Archives looks after and makes available to the public a collection of historical records dating back more than 1,000 years, including records as diverse as the Domesday Book and MI5 files. They are also a cultural, heritage and academic organisation which promotes public accessibility to iconic documents while ensuring preservation for generations to come. Subject guides are available to help users locate the information they are looking for. The two most relevant ones are on Jews and Jewish Communities, and this collection of guides for family history research. The Archives’ historic records also cover the history of Medieval Jewish communities, as well as the return of the Jewish community to England in the mid-1650s. Access Information The National Archives is open to all members of the public. In order to view files at The National Archives, you will need to book your visit and order documents at least a week in advance. You will also need a reader’s ticket, which you can register for when you book online. In order to obtain or renew your reader’s ticket you must bring two forms of identification with you: a proof of name with a valid signature and a separate proof of address. A photograph will be taken for your reader’s ticket. The National Archives are open 9am – 5pm, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and until 7pm on Tuesday and Thursday. It is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Currently, visits must be booked at least a week in advance, and slots will be made available two weeks before the date of the visit, on a rolling weekly basis every Monday morning. Additional information can be found here. Online Accessibility The National Archives’ online catalogue, Discovery, lists records held by the Archive as well as more than 2,500 other archives in the UK. Over five percent of the Archives’ records have been digitised and are available online. These can be found by searching on the online catalogue and filtering for ‘available for download only’. Depending on the document these may not be free to view, and require a payment to either the National Archive or one of it’s commercial partners. Street Address Bessant Dr,Kew,RichmondTW9 4DU https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Family History | Holocaust | ImmigrationPartially online Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM) is a national museum based in London, whose archival records cover Holocaust testimony, military history documentation and accounts. Archive Description Imperial War Museum’s document collection holds over 20,000 individual collections of private papers, comprising unpublished diaries, letters and memoirs written primarily by British and Commonwealth servicemen and women since 1914 and by civilians mainly during the two world wars. It also looks after a large collection of foreign documents, including the official British records of the major war crimes trials conducted at Nuremberg and Tokyo, together with related documents from the Second World War which mainly concern the German and Japanese war efforts. Archival material in the collection with particular reference to Jewish history includes oral history interviews and written testimony from Holocaust survivors and those involved with the Kindertransport scheme, as well as much important supporting documentation on these subjects. Access Information The archives are open to members of the general public by appointment. Access requires the museum to be notified at least five full working days in advance. Access times are 10am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday (closed Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays). More information about access to the archives is available on the Museum’s website, as well as contact information. Online Accessibility The Museum’s catalogue is available online, and includes substantial digital collections, including its digitised sound archive – available online. Street Address Imperial War MuseumLambeth RoadLondonSE1 6HZ https://www.iwm.org.uk
Family History | Holocaust | ImmigrationOnly online AJR Refugee Voices AJR Refugee Voices is a digital archive created by the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) and holds Holocaust survivor and refugee testimony. Archive Description AJR Refugee Voices is the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR)’s groundbreaking Holocaust testimony collection of 250 filmed interviews with Jewish survivors & refugees from Nazi Europe who rebuilt their lives in Great Britain. The archive contains video interviews, written transcripts and summaries, historical photos, documents and other artefacts. You can see photos, documents and videos from the archive via their Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts. Access Information The archive is available to the public and can be accessed in full at the following partner institutions: The Wiener Holocaust Library The Brotherton Library Special Collections, University of Leeds German Historical Institute London The Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust Studies, University of Leicester The Albert Sloman Library, University of Essex Hartley Library Special Collections, The University of Southampton Interview summaries, photos and documents are also available on the AJR Refugee Voices website. For more information about accessing the collection you can contact the archive on their website. Online Accessibility A searchable catalogue of the interviews can be found on the AJR Refugee Voices Website. The website also holds information about the history of the archive, background information about the interviews, and teaching resources. https://www.ajrrefugeevoices.org.uk
Family History | Holocaust | Jewish Life | Middle Eastern JewryOnly online Sephardi Voices UK Sephardi Voices UK is a video and image archive held in the British Library. Its collection of interviews covers topics around family history, Middle Eastern Jewry, and Holocaust testimonies. Archive Description Sephardi Voices UK documents stories of childhood, displacement, migration, exile, and resettlement and brings to life the vibrant Jewish communities left behind, the journeys of migration and the rich culture and tradition of Sephardi/Mizrahi Jews. The archive works to enable families and communities to connect with their past and celebrate their heritage, and for researchers and the general public to gain a unique window into the lives of Jewish communities which have been severely depleted or no longer exist. To date Sephardi Voices UK has interviewed 105 people from more than fifteen different countries including Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Iran – each with their own unique story. Access Information The archive can be accessed at the British Library and new readers are required to register with the library for access. Information on this process can be found on the British Library website. For more information on visiting and using the archive, you can contact Sephardi Voices UK on its website or email directly at info@sephardivoices.org.uk. Online Accessibility Parts of Sephardi Voices UK archive are available online on the website, and the full collection can explored using the British Library’s online catalogue. Street Address British Library96 Euston RoadLondonNW1 2DB https://www.sephardivoices.org.uk
Family History | Holocaust | ImmigrationPartially online World Jewish Relief Archives The World Jewish Relief Archive is a private archive based in London. It holds records of those who came to the UK from Nazi-Europe during the 1930’s and 1940’s and whom the organisation helped to escape and start new lives in Britain. Archive Description The Central British Fund for German Jewry (CBF) was founded in 1933 to bring Jewish Refugees to Britain from Nazi-occupied Europe. World Jewish Relief (as the CBF is known today) still holds thousands of records of Jewish people who were brought over from Europe before, during and after the war. This includes many of the children who arrived as part of the Kindertransport in 1938 and 1939, the 732 child survivors (later known as ‘The Boys‘) who were brought to Windermere in 1945, men who were placed in the Kitchener Camp and many others. There are records for young women who arrived on a Domestic Visa, family groups who managed to come together as well as individuals who were able to secure work before arriving. The CBF’s administrative archive contains documents which help tell the story of the Central British Fund from its inception and throughout the following decades. Access Information The personal records of the refugees are not available for public access. Family members are encouraged to make an equiry using this online form and a dedicated archive team staffed by part-time volunteers will get in touch with any information they may find. The records have been digitised and if an enquiry is successful, digitised copies of the documents can be sent to family members for them to view. The original documents are stored at the The London Archives along with the organisation’s administrative records and access to view these must be approved by World Jewish Relief. You can send requests to the archive team by emailing archives@worldjewishrelief.org. Due to the popularity of the service there may be a substantial wait before you receive a response to your enquiry. Online Accessibility There is detailed information on the World Jewish Relief website about the types of documents and records found in the archive along with stories of some of those refugees for whom files have been found. There are no online catalogues available. If you need any additional information you can reach the archive team by emailing archives@worldjewishrelief.org. https://www.worldjewishrelief.org/about-us/your-family-history