The Mazal Holocaust Collection is the largest privately owned Holocaust-related archive in the world.[1] It comprises 500,000 items, including 20,000 books.[2] Some of its items include aerial photographs of the Auschwitz concentration camp and transcripts of the Nuremberg Trials.[2] Additionally, it includes old copies of Der Stürmer, books of Holocaust denial, and material published by the American Nazi Party in the 1930s.[2] As of March 2015, the full extent of the collection was unknown.[2]
History
The collection was established by Harry W. Mazal, a businessman of Turkish-Jewish descent who was born in Mexico City, Mexico, and subsequently lived in San Antonio, Texas.[2][3] Mazal only found out he was Jewish as a teenager, and he began collecting documents related to the Holocaust then.[2] His primary aim was to counter the discourse of Holocaust deniers.[4] In 2011, Mazal discovered one of his employees was stealing and selling some of his collection; the thief was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2014.[5]
With the help of Professor David Shneer, it has been based at the University of Colorado Boulder since January 2014.[1] Students act as volunteers to categorize and digitalize the collection.[2]
