Under the supervision of the Fritz Bauer Institute film archivists,
film historians and Holocaust researchers have been working since 1992
together with CineGraph, the Hamburg Centre for Film Research, the German
Film Institute Frankfurt am Main and the German Film Museum Frankfurt am
Main on the reconstruction and documentation of the central inventory of
films on the history and repercussions of the Holocaust. The project has
given rise to a databank containing information on film documents. The
films stem mainly from the inventory of the US Army Signal Corps and other
film documents of the Allies, which were shot during the liberation of
the concentration camps by allied forces and depict the life of Holocaust
survivors in the DP camps. Also included are film documents from German
production after 1945, as well as American and Soviet anti-Nazi and anti-Fascist
films from the thirties and forties.
Not only are the films themselves registered, but also historically
relevant sources such as information on copying and screening history,
film reviews, propaganda material, photos, educational recommendations
and censor documents.
Since November 2000 the first comprehensive datafile has been accessible
via internet. This publicly available information system of Cinematography
of the Holocaust offers a transparent infrastructure for different user
interests. The archive is accessible for interested laypersons, scientists,
film-makers, journalists, educationalists and artists.
Once annually the work study group "Cinematography of the Holocaust"
holds a congress with international participants where a key topic is dealt
with. At the last congress in January the topic was "Holocaust and Popular
Culture".