O.2 - Wiener Library Collection of Testimonies, London, 1940-1957 Alfred Wiener (1885-1964), the man who planned and established the Wiener Library, was born in Potsdam Germany; by profession, he was an expert in Middle East affairs and researcher of Islam. From 1919 he served as the legal advisor for the Centralverein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens (Central Association of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith), and published many articles about the Jews of Germany. When the Nazis rose to power in 1933, Wiener immigrated to the Netherlands and lived in Amsterdam. He began to collect books, periodicals, newspaper clippings and more regarding what was taking place in Nazi Germany and the persecution of the Jews living there. This collection served as the basis for the Wiener Library. Wiener set up a department in Amsterdam which was devoted to Jewish subjects; its purpose was to provide information to Jewish organizations and other groups that were interested in these matters. Over the years the collection grew to 40,000 volumes, 500,000 newspaper articles and other documents on a variety of subjects, such as: the History of Nazism, Fascism, Antisemitism, Concentration Camps, Eretz Israel and the History of the Jews. When World War II broke out in September 1939, the collection was transferred to London along with the staff of researchers and employees. During the war, the Wiener Library was in close contact with the British government and provided the government with valuable information based on the collection. After World War II, the Wiener Library in London continued to gather documentation regarding the Holocaust in Europe, including testimonies of Holocaust survivors. Most of the testimonies were gathered from 1954 to 1960. In 1980 a large part of the archives was transferred to Tel Aviv University. Copies of the collection of testimonies were submitted to Yad Vashem in the early 1980s.