The resources of the Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation cover the history of the Second World War and that of the Jews of France in the 20th Century. Due to the wealth of documentation, this collection represents a unique and excellent instrument to study the destruction of the Jews of Europe. Since 1945, most of the research done on this topic refers to the CDJC archives which are consulted both by historians and by journalists. French and International courts have used the archives extensively for the investigations during the Nuremberg trials, from those responsible for the « final solution » to the Barbie trial.
This exceptional collection of documents which has been supplemented regularly since the creation of the CDJC in 1943, with the donation of personal documents by witnesses of the Shoah, is composed of a collection of close to one million records, a photographic library of about 75,000 pictures, a library of some 50,000 references and film archives.
The digitization of the catalogue of the collection has enabled the Memorial to use a powerful computerized search engine so as to respond precisely to questions from researchers and families. The entire data base can be accessed from the reading room.
