Wiener Library

The Wiener Holocaust Library stands in Russell Square, in the City of Westminster. It is the world’s oldest institution devoted to the study of the Holocaust and its legacies. Founded in 1933 by Alfred Wiener, it began as an information bureau warning Jewish communities and governments about Nazi persecution. After the Second World War it became a research institute and public library. The building houses archives that include books, photographs, letters, magazines and children’s games documenting Nazi propaganda. In 2011 it moved to its present premises in Russell Square.

The Library’s collections are central to understanding the Holocaust and its causes. In 2017 it published an online, searchable catalogue of the United Nations War Crimes Commission archive. It also holds the United Kingdom’s digital copy of the International Tracing Service archive. The Library awards the annual Fraenkel Prize for outstanding work in twentieth-century history. Its educational website, The Holocaust Explained, supports British schoolchildren studying the Nazi era. In 2025 it launched Wiener Digital Collections, giving global access to digitised materials.

Visitors find temporary exhibitions on the ground floor and smaller displays in the Reading Room. The Library also curates travelling and online exhibitions. The Refugee Map, relaunched in 2021, traces refugee journeys using photographs, diaries, letters and interviews. Artworks by Fred Kormis, creator of England’s first Holocaust memorial, have been exhibited there. The Library remains a registered charity dedicated to research, education and documenting antisemitism and neonazism.