Vittnesmål i arkiven: Bevarande och tillgängliggörande av vittnesmål från Förintelseöverlevare

The aim of this thesis is to examine how archival institutions perceive their role in managing archives that contain witness testimonies from Holocaust survivors. Choices made by the archival institutions in regards of preservation, digization, ethics and availability to users are analyzed. Three archives are the focus of this research. The Polish Research Institute archive contains witness testimonies from Holocaust survivors collected in Sweden in the years of 1945 and 1946. The archive is a part of the Lund University Library’s collections. The other two archives are Gunhild and Einar Tegens personal archives. These archives contain witness testimonies collected in Sweden in 1945, by the organization Samarbetskommittén för demokratiskt uppbyggnadsarbete. These archives can be found in Uppsala University Library’s collections. The primary source material for this thesis consists of seven interviews conducted with six informants. Three informants are employed at Lund University Library, one informant is employed at Uppsala University Library, and two informants have been involved in creating exhibitions with materials from one of the archives. The theoretical framework is based on the records continuum theory, which was used to highlight how the archives are affected by choices made in how they are managed. Social memory theory is also used to help explore how these archives can be used in the process of creating and changing social memory by the archivists and users. The results show that the choice to digitize the Polish Research Institutes archive has had effects on the archives physical form, digital presence and its users. The archive has been made nearly fully available online, allowing users to access it without geographical restraints. Other efforts to make the archive more accessible for a wide range of users has also been made. These endeavors have led to increased interest in the archive, in both its physical and digital form. The archive was made available without anonymizing any of the witnesses, thereby favoring openness over personal integrity. Neither Gunhild Tegens personal archive nor Einar Tegens personal archive have been digitized and are primarily accessed by researchers. The Polish Research Institutes archive had a more diverse group of users even before it was digitized, and that trend has continued after its increased availability. That the content of these archives are closely related to the Holocaust, which is an integral part of the European social memory, has not led to any special considerations in how the archives are managed. It has however led to an increase in resources to the Polish Research Institute, further opening it up to society and to memory