The Wiener Holocaust Library

Zdeněk Tmej was a young photographer from Prague who was forcibly conscripted to work on railways in Breslau, Germany, in a group with other young Czech men in 1942. He documented the everyday lives of 100 Czech labourers with his camera.

The labourers lived in a makeshift campsite in an empty ballroom and worked in shifts around the clock. When the German guards caught him taking photographs, Tmej told them he was simply making souvenirs for himself and other labourers.

These photographs are a unique testament of the everyday lives of forced civilian labourers.

This photo is a self-portrait, showing Tmej fetching water during his work.

Our latest exhibition uncovers the tangled history of the N**is’ brutal slave labour programme through photographs, eyewitness testimony, and other unique documents from our archive.

N**i Slave Labour: Perpetrators & Victims is open in our exhibition gallery Monday - Friday, 10am - 5pm.

Due to the red weather warning announced for this week our Exhibition Gallery and the Reading Room will be closed on Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th June.

Please check our website for up to date information before your visit:

When We're Open - The Wiener Holocaust Library Planning a visit? Check when we’re open

The Exhibition Gallery and the Reading Room will be closed on Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th June due to the red weather warning.

Please check our website for up to date information before your visit:

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On 22 June 1941, the N**is launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, breaking the terms of the N**i-Soviet Non Aggression Pact.

Soviet forces were initially taken by surprise, and within the first two months of war, 800,000 Soviet soldiers were captured by the Wehrmacht.

The N**is aimed their attacks at three key targets, Ukraine in the south, Moscow in the middle, and Leningrad in the north.

Hundreds of thousands of Jews managed to flee approaching N**i soldiers into the depths of the Soviet Union, but millions of Jews remained under N**i occupation and approximately 1.5 million of them were the victims of mass murder carried out by Einsatzgruppen units.

In less than half a year, by the end of 1941, about half a million Jews had been murdered within the areas of the Soviet Union conquered by the N**is.

If you've never visited before, our Tuesday Tours are the perfect chance for a behind the scenes look in our archive, a guided tour of the current exhibition, and the chance to see our Reading Room.

There's no need to book, simply turn up in time for a 2pm start every Tuesday afternoon!

Join us for the launch of a new Holocaust Studies special issue on q***r experiences during the Holocaust at which we will hear from a panel of editors and contributors to the special issue including Helen Finch, Rosie Ramsden, Matt Smith, and William Jones.

How can scholars trace q***r experiences during and after the N**i regime? This special issue brings together research attending to the emotions, memories, practices, desires, relationalities, and imaginations that shaped q***r life in and after the Holocaust.

📅 16 July 2026, 6:30 - 8pm
📍 The Wiener Holocaust Library, London

There are some changes to our regular opening hours in the coming weeks and months. Please check our website for up to date information before you plan your visit to our exhibition gallery or Reading Room!

📕The Exhibition Gallery and the Reading Room will open later on Wednesday 24 June, at 12pm.

📕The Exhibition Gallery and the Reading Room will open later on Thursday 23 July, at 11am.

📕The Exhibition Gallery and the Reading Room will open later on Monday 10 August, at 11am.

📕The Reading Room will be closed from Monday 17th to Friday 21st August.

On sale now...

Our latest publication accompanies our current exhibition, N**i Slave Labour: Perpetrators & Victims, and provides additional insights into some of the remarkable items from our collection which are on display

Visit our onsite bookshop or order your copy online https://buff.ly/q7j4WTB

Since launching our digital archive last year we have been constantly adding to and updating the site to make as many of our collections as possible available to researchers around the world.

There are now almost 270,000 images of documentary evidence relating to the Holocaust and the N**i era available via our online archive.

Our Collections Team are working to digitise many of our most significant collections, and those most frequently accessed by researchers, and make them accessible online over the coming months and years.

We are pleased to share that the Reawakening Suppressed Music Project will continue for a further three years.

https://suppressed-music.com

This international initiative, led by a consortium of cultural and academic partners, is dedicated to recording, performing, and sharing orchestral works suppressed under N**i persecution. By bringing these compositions back into sound, the project contributes to a fuller understanding of Europe’s musical heritage and restores works that have long remained unheard.

Combining scholarly research with artistic practice, the consortium ensures that these rediscovered works are preserved and presented within their historical context.

We extend our sincere thanks to Bader Philanthropies for their generous and continued support, which makes this work possible.

Listen to the recordings via the project website, and watch this space for forthcoming releases and events.

https://suppressed-music.com